Article Intro: RAM on autonomous surgical robots
The latest issue of the IEEE RAS' Robotics and Automation Magazine featured two great articles in the domain of semi-autonomous surgical robotics:
- Heunis et al. "Collaborative Surgical Robots: Optical Tracking During Endovascular Operations"
- Endovascular interventions usually require meticulous handling of surgical instruments and constant monitoring of the operating room workspace. To address these challenges, robotic- assisted technologies and tracking techniques are increasingly being developed. Specifically, the limited workspace and potential for a collision between the robot and surrounding dynamic obstacles are important aspects that need to be considered. This article presents a navigation system developed to assist clinicians with the magnetic actuation of endovascular catheters using multiple surgical robots. We demonstrate the actuation of a magnetic catheter in an experimental arterial testbed with dynamic obstacles. The motions and trajectory planning of two six degrees of freedom (6-DoF) robotic arms are established through passive markerguided motion planning. We achieve an overall 3D tracking accuracy of 2.3 ± 0.6 mm for experiments involving dynamic obstacles. We conclude that integrating multiple optical trackers with the online planning of two serial-link manipulators is useful to support the treatment of endovascular diseases and aid clinicians during interventions.
- Cao et al. " Sewing up the Wounds: A Robotic Suturing System for Flexible Endoscopy":
- If a perforation occurs as a result of a flexible endoscopic procedure,
urgent laparoscopy or open surgery may be required to repair the
perforation, because suturing is normally stronger than closure using
existing endo-scopic devices. Suturing with stitches and knots, widely
adopted in open or laparoscopic surgery, is still not possible in
flexible endoscopy. This is due to the confined space of the natural
orifice and target area, the high levels of motion dexterity and force
needed for stitching and knot tying, and the critical size and strength
requirements of wound closure. We present a novel flexible endoscopic
robotic suturing system that can suture gastrointestinal defects without
opening up the patient's body as in open or laparo scopic surgery. This
system features a robotic needle driver and a robotic grasper, both of
which are flexible, small enough for through-the-scope delivery, and
dexterous with five degrees of freedom (DoF). The needle driver,
facilitated by the grasper, enables the surgeon to control a needle
through teleoperation and so make stitches and knots in flexible
endoscopy. Successful in vivo trials were conducted in the rectum of a
live pig to confirm the feasibility of endoscopic suturing and knot
tying using the system in a realistic surgical scenario (not possible
with existing devices, which are all manually driven) . This new
technology will change the way surgeons close gastro intestinal defects.
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8994188
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9042842
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