Florian Alexander Fröhlich

DLR MiroSurge: a versatile system for research in endoscopic telesurgery.

PurposeResearch on surgical robotics demands systems for evaluating scientific approaches. Such systems can be divided into dedicated and versatile systems. Dedicated systems are designed for a single surgical task or technique, whereas versatile systems are designed to be expandable and useful in multiple surgical applications. Versatile systems are often based on industrial robots, though, and because of this, are hardly suitable for close contact with humans.MethodTo achieve a high degree of versatility the Miro robotic surgery platform (MRSP) consists of versatile components, dedicated front–ends towards surgery and configurable interfaces for the surgeon.ResultsThis paper presents MiroSurge, a configuration of the MRSP that allows for bimanual endoscopic telesurgery with force feedback.ConclusionsWhile the components of the MiroSurge system are shown to fulfil the rigid design requirements for robotic telesurgery with force feedback, the system remains versatile, which is supposed to be a key issue for the further development and optimisation.

The DLR MiroSurge - A robotic system for surgery

This video presents the in-house developed DLR MiroSurge robotic system for surgery. As shown, the system is suitable for both minimally invasive and open surgery. Essential part of the system is the MIRO robot: The soft robotics feature enables intuitive interaction with the robot.

Towards accurate motion compensation in surgical robotics

This paper proposes a method for accurate robotic motion compensation of a freely moving target object. This approaches a typical problem in medical scenarios, where a robotic system needs to compensate physiological movements of a target region related to the patient. An optical tracking system measures the poses of the robots end-effector and the moving target. The task is to track the target with the robot in a desired relative pose. Arbitrary motion in 6 DoF is covered. The position controller of the medical light-weight robot MIRO is enhanced by a Cartesian displacement observer. The proposed observer feedback preserves the dynamics of the robot, while achieving high accuracy in task space. The target object is equipped with an inertial measurement unit in addition to tracking markers. Target sensor data is fused by an extended Kalman filter in a tightly coupled approach. The robot control and the target tracking in the task space aim to combine accuracy, dynamic performance and robustness to marker occlusions. The algorithms are verified with the DLR MIRO, an experimental target platform, and a commercial tracking system. The experiments demonstrate rapid convergence to desired Cartesian poses and good dynamic tracking performance even at higher target motion speed.

Extending the Capability of Using a Waterjet in Surgical Interventions by the Use of Robotics

In waterjet surgery, a thin high-pressure jet is used for dissections and surface abrasion of soft tissue. This selective preparation method preserves nerves and vessels, whereas the surrounding soft tissue is washed away. Objective: The aim of this study is to enhance the application field of this technique by resolving technological limitations. Methods: A technical task definition of handling a hand-guided waterjet applicator is derived from the literature. All reported procedures require to follow a trajectory superimposed with an oscillating movement. By introducing a robotic system and a specialized kinematic approach, the limited dexterity of the waterjet applicator is increased. Additionally, the system provides assistance by automatically performing parts of the task. Results: The method is applied to two different procedures: a minimally invasive dissection and a surface abrasion for open medical treatments. On the basis of experiments with gelatine phantoms, the performance of the method is shown for both procedures. Conclusion: In the minimally invasive use case, the reachability limited by the conventional manual tools is extended by the capabilities of the robotic system. Simultaneously, the handling is simplified by automation of the superimposed oscillation. In the surface abrasion case, a dense coverage of the treated area is achievable. The risk of cross infections could be reduced by spatial separation of patient and staff. Significance: Thus, the waterjet technology can be fully integrated into robotic surgery systems and benefit from their inherent abilities.

Robot assisted internal mammary artery detection for coronary revascularisation surgery

This paper presents a semi-automatic robotic system supporting a surgeon in the harvesting of the internal mammary artery (IMA) for an open chested intervention in coronary revascularisation surgery. The versatile surgical lightweight robot MIRO developed at DLR (German Aerospace Center) is used to detect and mark the path of the IMA at the inner side of the thoracic wall. The robot is equipped with a tool combining a Doppler ultrasonography (US) probe and a medical marker pen. The position of the IMA is extracted from the US-images to place the tool above the artery via visual servoing. Additionally, the robot moves the tool in direction of the artery to mark the location of the IMA on its path. To achieve an ideal contact situation for US-imaging along the whole path the contact force between tissue and probe is controlled according to force measurements based on the internal torque sensors of the robot. The evaluation of the robotic system by an animal experiment shows that the system is capable of robustly detecting the IMA.

Integration of new features for telerobotic surgery into the MiroSurge system

Minimally invasive robotic surgery has gained wide acceptance recently. Computer-aided features to assist the surgeon during these interventions may help to develop safer, faster, and more accurate procedures. Especially physiological motion compensation of the beating heart and online soft tissue modelling are promising features that were developed recently. This paper presents the integration of these new features into the minimally invasive robotic surgery platform MiroSurge. A central aim of this research platform is to enable evaluation and comparison of new functionalities for minimally invasive robotic surgery. The system structure of MiroSurge is presented as well as the interfaces for the new functionalities. Some details about the modules for motion tracking and for soft tissue simulation are given. Results are shown with an experimental setup that includes a heart motion simulator and dedicated silicone organ models. Both features are integrated seamlessly and work reliably in the chosen setup. The MiroSurge platform thus shows the potential to provide valuable results in evaluating new functionalities for minimally invasive robotic surgery.

On the role of multimodal communication in telesurgery systems

Telesurgery systems integrate multimodal communication and robotic technologies to enable surgical procedures to be performed from remote locations. They allow human surgeons to intuitively control laparoscopic instruments and to navigate within the human body. In this paper, we present selected topics on multimodal interaction in the context of telesurgery applications. These are results from the collaborative research project SFB 453 on “High-Fidelity Telepresence and Teleaction” which is funded by the German Research Foundation in the larger Munich area. The focus in this paper is on multimodal information processing and communication including simulation of surgical targets in the human body. Furthermore, we present an overview of our advanced multimodal telesurgery demonstrators that provide a comprehensive platform for our collaborative telepresence research.