Cable-Driven Surgical Manipulator for Dexterity Without Bulk
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical robotic systems are bulky, lack dexterity, and have insufficient stiffness and precision, making them inadequate for complex minimally invasive surgeries, and are costly and space-intensive, limiting their accessibility and increasing procedural duration.
Innovation Solution
A cable-driven mechanical transmission system providing enhanced dexterity, stiffness, speed, and payload capacity for multi-DOF micro-manipulators, enabling intuitive control and integration with conventional laparoscopic and robotic surgery benefits, allowing navigation through multiple abdominal quadrants with reduced incisions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If robotic systems are introduced to improve dexterity and precision in minimally invasive surgery, then surgical precision and control are improved, but device size and space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic system is divided into multiple independent robotic arms that can be positioned separately, with only the essential manipulator components entering the patient's body through small incisions. This segmentation allows high-precision robotic control without requiring a large monolithic device structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from traditional open surgery in three-dimensional space to minimally invasive surgery by adding the dimension of remote robotic control through cables and actuators positioned outside the patient's body, allowing precise manipulation through small incisions.
2Duration of action of moving object
If conventional laparoscopic equipment is used to reduce incision size, then patient recovery time is reduced, but surgical dexterity and precision are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces conventional mechanical laparoscopic instruments with robotic manipulators that provide superior dexterity and precision. The robotic arms are actuated by cable-driven mechanisms that transmit forces and motions from external actuators to the surgical instruments inside the patient's body.
Solution Approach 2:
Cable-driven transmission mechanisms serve as intermediaries between the external robotic actuators and the surgical instruments inside the patient's body, allowing precise control and force transmission through the small incisions while maintaining surgical dexterity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If robotic systems are made larger to provide more degrees of freedom, then mobility and stiffness are improved, but operating room space requirements and preparation time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic system is segmented into multiple independent arms that can be positioned and adjusted separately within the operating room. Each arm provides the necessary degrees of freedom for complex surgical maneuvers without requiring a large centralized structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The robotic arms are designed with dynamic positioning capabilities, allowing them to be reconfigured and moved to different positions within the operating room as needed. The cable-driven actuation system enables flexible and adaptive positioning of the manipulators throughout the procedure.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system enhances surgical precision and reliability, reduces procedural time, and provides cost-effective, ergonomic, and intuitive control, enabling complex surgical tasks with improved dexterity and reduced recovery time.
Implementation Method 1
a cable-driven mechanical transmission comprising a plurality of driving cables, each coupling an actuation pulley at a proximal location of the mechanism and another one of said joint driven pulley
Implementation Method 2
The friction between the cable and pulley surfaces enables force transmission from the actuation pulleys to the joint driven pulleys, controlling the movement of movable links
Data Source
AI summary
A novel mechanical system, based on a new cable driven mechanical transmission, able to provide sufficient dexterity, stiffness, speed, precision and payload capacity to actuate multi-DOF micro-manipulators. Besides the possibility of being used in several articulated surgical instruments and robotic systems for surgery or other applications involving remote manipulation, it enables the design of a novel fully mechanical surgical instrument, which offer the advantages of conventional laparoscopy (low cost, tactile feedback, high payload capacity) combined with the advantages of single port surgery (single incision, scarless surgery, navigation through several quadrants of the abdominal cavity) and robotic surgery (greater degrees of freedom, short learning curve, high stiffness, high precision, increased intuition). The unique design of the proposed system provides an intuitive user interface to achieve such enhanced manoeuvrability, allowing each joint of a teleoperated slave system to be driven by controlling the position of a mechanically connected master unit.