Yuta Sekiguchi

A surgical robot with vision field control for single port endoscopic surgery.

Robotic end‐effectors for single port endoscopic surgery (SPS) require a manual change of vision field that slows surgery and increases the degrees of freedom (DOFs) of the manipulator.

Development of a robotic system with six-degrees-of-freedom robotic tool manipulators for single-port surgery.

Current robotic systems have limitations for single‐port surgery (SPS) because the instruments are large, the arms collide and the field of vision requires manual readjustment. We have developed an SPS robotic system that manipulates the vision field.

Development of a tool manipulator driven by a flexible shaft for Single Port Endoscopic Surgery

Recently, a robotics system was developed to assist in Single Port Endoscopic Surgery (SPS). However, the existing system required a manual operation of vision and viewpoint, hindering the surgical task. We proposed a surgical endoscopic robot for SPS with dynamic vision control, the endoscopic view being manipulated by a master controller. The prototype robot consists of a manipulator for vision control, and dual tool tissue manipulators (gripping: 5DOF, cautery: 3DOF) can be attached at the tip of sheath manipulator. In particular, this paper focuses on the details of the mechanism and control scheme of the tool manipulator. The experimental results show that our manipulator exhibits a response with a precision of less than 0.15 [mm] and a time delay of less than 31 [ms], when the input frequency was 1.0[Hz].

In vivo experiments of a surgical robot with vision field control for single port endoscopic surgery

Recently, robotics systems are focused to assist in Single Port Endoscopic Surgery (SPS). However, the existing system required a manual operation of vision and viewpoint, hindering the surgical task. We proposed a surgical endoscopic robot for SPS with dynamic vision control, the endoscopic view being manipulated by a master controller. The prototype robot consists of a manipulator for vision control, and dual tool tissue manipulators (gripping: 5DOFs, cautery: 3DOFs) can be attached at the tip of sheath manipulator. In particular, this paper focuses on an in vivo experiment. We showed that vision control in the stomach and a cautery task by a cautery tool could be effectively achieved.

Design of a surgical robot with dynamic vision field control for Single Port Endoscopic Surgery

Recently, a robotic system was developed to assist Single Port Endoscopic Surgery (SPS). However, the existing system required a manual change of vision field, hindering the surgical task and increasing the degrees of freedom (DOFs) of the manipulator. We proposed a surgical robot for SPS with dynamic vision field control, the endoscope view being manipulated by a master controller. The prototype robot consisted of a positioning and sheath manipulator (6 DOF) for vision field control, and dual tool tissue manipulators (gripping: 5DOF, cautery: 3DOF). Feasibility of the robot was demonstrated in vitro. The “cut and vision field control” (using tool manipulators) is suitable for precise cutting tasks in risky areas while a “cut by vision field control” (using a vision field control manipulator) is effective for rapid macro cutting of tissues. A resection task was accomplished using a combination of both methods.

Design of an Insertable Surgical Robot with multi-level endoscopic control for Single Port Access Surgery

Single Port Surgery (SPS) and Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES) bring the benefits: reduced surgical trauma and less patients burden. However, they are still limited in the area of instrument dexterity and operability. This paper presents an Insertable Surgical Robot (ISR) for Single Port Access Surgery (SPAS), this robot uses multi-level architectures in the field of endoscopic vision control. It resolves the complex conversion on operation between vision and manipulators, and improves the operability. The ISR consists of an insertable central stem, a flexible sheath, two dexterous manipulators, and a quadrilateral link driven endoscope. The dexterous manipulators and endoscopic mechanism are located on the distal side of the flexible sheath, achieving two bendable DOFs and one translational DOF by following the motions of flexible sheath. The configuration of the ISR makes it could be inserted through a Φ25 mm port, and execute management of flexible sheath, dual manipulators and quadrilateral link with visual information. The flexible sheath and quadrilateral link are used for controlling the endoscopic view, the control strategy of endoscopic view is presented, and the experimental result shows the control method is competent.

Development of a tool manipulator driven by a flexible shaft for Single-Port Endoscopic Surgery

Recently, a robotics system was developed to assist in Single Port Endoscopic Surgery (SPS). However, the existing system required a manual operation of vision and viewpoint, hindering the surgical task. We proposed a surgical endoscopic robot for SPS with dynamic vision control, the endoscopic view being manipulated by a master controller. The prototype robot consists of a manipulator for vision control, and dual tool tissue manipulators (gripping: 5DOF, cautery: 3DOF) can be attached at the tip of sheath manipulator. In particular, this paper focuses on the details of the mechanism and control scheme of the tool manipulator. The experimental results show that our manipulator exhibits a response with a precision of less than 0.15 [mm] and a time delay of less than 31 [ms], when the input frequency was 1.0[Hz].

Development of a 6-DOF manipulator driven by flexible shaft for minimally invasive surgical application

This paper presents a 6-DOF manipulator which consists of four parts, 1-DOF translational joint, two 2-DOF bending joints (segment1 and segment2), and 1-DOF rotational gripper. The manipulator with “flexible shaft and Double Screw Drive (DSD) mechanism” structure can obtain omni-directional bending motion through rotation of flexible shafts. In the first prototype, the flexible shafts were connected directly with the actuators in the manipulator. Compared with the first prototype, in the second prototype, flexible shafts for power transmission are connected to the base of the manipulator. Universal joints are used for power transmission to realize distal motion. The improvement done with the design of the second prototype reduced the torque necessary to drive the flexible shafts during motion in surgical interventions. Experiment results show that the manipulator has enough range of movement for surgical intervention.

Application of control modes of a master manipulator for a robotic system to assist with single port endoscopic surgery

Recently, increased attention has been focused on single port endoscopic surgery (SPS). We have developed a robotic system for SPS with two surgical manipulators: an endoscopic manipulator and a positioning manipulator that moves the endoscope. The robot can manipulate both the position and orientation of the endoscope to achieve the desirable endoscopic field of view. Two methods can be used to operate the endoscopic view: “control corresponding to position” mode and “control corresponding to velocity” mode. Although both are widely used for moving the visual field, the operability of each method has not been examined quantitatively. Thus, we compare the operability of the two methods for adjusting the endoscopic view, and present the results and suitable applications of each method. The results of the quantitative evaluation experiments show that the “control corresponding to position” mode is suitable for short-distance or precise adjustment of the endoscope, whereas the “control corresponding to velocity” mode is better suited to long-distance movement.