Medical Manipulator Shape Correction During Rotation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing medical manipulators, such as endoscopes, face challenges in accurately navigating and maintaining position within body cavities due to limitations in rotation and bending mechanisms, which can lead to positional aberrations and difficulties in targeting specific areas within luminal organs.
Innovation Solution
A medical system with a manipulator featuring a longitudinal portion, a bendable portion with universal joints, and a control unit that includes shape sensors, rotation angle sensors, and a control unit to generate driving signals for precise rotation and bending, ensuring the manipulator's distal end maintains its original shape and direction post-rotation, and includes an imaging unit for target object recognition and position correction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the manipulator rotates the proximal end about the longitudinal axis, then the distal end and uneven portion are rotatable following the proximal end rotation, but the bendable portion experiences positional aberration and shape change after rotation
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit calculates and applies shape correction instructions before the rotation is completed. By predicting the positional aberration and shape change that will occur after rotation, the system preemptively adjusts the bendable portion's shape to compensate for these changes, ensuring the distal end maintains its intended position and orientation after the rotation operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The shape sensor unit continuously detects the actual shape and position of the bendable portion during rotation. This detection information is fed back to the control unit, which compares the actual state with the expected state and generates corrective shape instructions to maintain positioning accuracy throughout the rotation process.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the manipulator uses a bendable portion with universal joints for navigation, then the manipulator can adapt to curved paths in body cavities, but the complexity of controlling the bendable portion increases
Solution Approach 1:
The shape sensor unit provides real-time feedback on the bendable portion's configuration, enabling the control unit to automatically calculate and apply shape correction instructions. This closed-loop control system simplifies the operation of the complex universal joint mechanism by automating the coordination required to maintain desired positioning during rotation and movement.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit automatically generates shape correction instructions based on detection from the shape sensor unit and rotation angle sensor unit, without requiring manual intervention to coordinate the multiple universal joints. The system self-regulates the bendable portion's configuration to compensate for rotation-induced shape changes, reducing the operational complexity despite the mechanically complex structure.
3Productivity
If the manipulator rotates the longitudinal portion by a predetermined degree, then the imaging unit can scan different areas, but the bending direction and bending amount change due to rotation
Solution Approach 1:
Before the manipulator rotates the longitudinal portion to scan different areas, the control unit calculates the expected shape changes and generates shape correction instructions in advance. This preliminary action ensures that after rotation, the bendable portion returns to its original bending configuration, maintaining stability of the imaging unit's orientation relative to the target area.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit applies shape correction that acts in opposition to the expected shape change caused by rotation. By preemptively adjusting the bendable portion's shape in the opposite direction of the rotation-induced deformation, the system counteracts the destabilizing effect of rotation and maintains the intended bending configuration after the scanning rotation is complete.
Data Source
AI summary
A medical system including a manipulator having a longitudinal portion with a proximal end and a distal end; a rotation driving unit connected to the longitudinal portion for rotating the proximal end; an uneven portion disposed on an outer circumference surface in the vicinity of the distal end and being along a helix; a bendable portion disposed at the distal end; a bending driving unit bending the bendable portion; a shape sensor unit detecting a bending amount and a bending direction of the bendable portion; a rotation angle sensor unit detecting a rotation angle and a rotation direction of the longitudinal portion; and a control unit controlling operations of the rotation driving unit and the bending driving unit, wherein the distal end and the uneven portion are rotatable about the longitudinal axis following the rotation of the proximal end when the proximal end is rotated by the rotation driving unit.