Co-Planar Stereotaxic Atlas of the Human Brain—3-Dimensional Proportional System: An Approach to Cerebral Imaging, J. Talairach, P. Tournoux. Georg Thieme Verlag, New York (1988), 122 pp., 130 figs. DM 268

In this paper, we describe the state of the art in continuum robot manipulators and systems intended for application to interventional medicine. Inspired by biological trunks, tentacles, and snakes, continuum robot designs can traverse confined spaces, manipulate objects in complex environments, and conform to curvilinear paths in space. In addition, many designs offer inherent structural compliance and ease of miniaturization. After decades of pioneering research, a host of designs have now been investigated and have demonstrated capabilities beyond the scope of conventional rigid-link robots. Recently, we have seen increasing efforts aimed at leveraging these qualities to improve the frontiers of minimally invasive surgical interventions. Several concepts have now been commercialized, which are inspiring and enabling a current paradigm shift in surgical approaches toward flexible access routes, e.g., through natural orifices such as the nose. In this paper, we provide an overview of the current state of this field from the perspectives of both robotics science and medical applications. We discuss relevant research in design, modeling, control, and sensing for continuum manipulators, and we highlight how this work is being used to build robotic systems for specific surgical procedures. We provide perspective for the future by discussing current limitations, open questions, and challenges.

Continuum Robots for Medical Applications: A Survey

Small-scale soft continuum robots capable of active steering and navigation in a remotely controllable manner hold great promise in diverse areas, particularly in medical applications. Existing continuum robots, however, are often limited to millimeter or centimeter scales due to miniaturization challenges inherent in conventional actuation mechanisms, such as pulling mechanical wires, inflating pneumatic or hydraulic chambers, or embedding rigid magnets for manipulation. In addition, the friction experienced by the continuum robots during navigation poses another challenge for their applications. Here, we present a submillimeter-scale, self-lubricating soft continuum robot with omnidirectional steering and navigating capabilities based on magnetic actuation, which are enabled by programming ferromagnetic domains in its soft body while growing hydrogel skin on its surface. The robot's body, composed of a homogeneous continuum of a soft polymer matrix with uniformly dispersed ferromagnetic microparticles, can be miniaturized below a few hundreds of micrometers in diameter, and the hydrogel skin reduces the friction by more than 10 times. We demonstrate the capability of navigating through complex and constrained environments, such as a tortuous cerebrovascular phantom with multiple aneurysms. We further demonstrate additional functionalities, such as steerable laser delivery through a functional core incorporated in the robot's body. Given their compact, self-contained actuation and intuitive manipulation, our ferromagnetic soft continuum robots may open avenues to minimally invasive robotic surgery for previously inaccessible lesions, thereby addressing challenges and unmet needs in healthcare.

Ferromagnetic soft continuum robots

IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) におけるフルードパワー技術の研究動向

https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jsprs1975/37/6/37_6_39/_pdf

1998 IEEE International Conference on SMCに参加して

This paper presents a new laparoscopic robot for helping surgeon in minimally invasive surgery Its links and joints designed as individual components are easy detached and maintained In order to demonstrate the robot suitability to develop the task it has been designed for, a validation has been performed This validation consists of calculation of inverse kinematics and task dexterity distribution Finally, simulation basing on the task dexterity distribution is carried out

Laparoscopic Robot Design and Kinematic Validation

Nature snakes vary their gaits flexibly according to different terrains, so it is significant for snake-like robots to incorporate more available locomotion patterns and switch gaits smoothly for good adaptability. In this paper, a bionic joint mechanism with parallel links and active orthogonal omni-wheel is designed, and a novel central pattern generator (CPG) architecture is proposed. A sine approach is used in the modulation of CPG parameters to avoid stiff impulses. Moreover, the method also can be applied in the beginning stage to improve the motion effectiveness and save energy. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed smooth transition method.

Smooth transition of the CPG-based controller for snake-like robots

A mobile robot with reconfigurable locomotion chassis and bionic reconfigurable wheel rim is introduced. The configuration of its control system based on network-driven DC motors and PC 104 computer and relevant on-board technology are presented. The result shows that the mobile robot is a better test platform for diversified task of mobile robot navigation and localization in uncertain environment

A Navigation Robot with Reconfigurable Chassis and Bionic Wheel

This paper proposes a new joint mechanism for a snake-like robot to travel in hazardous areas for rescue tasks. In a complex environment, it is necessary to preform an efficient three-dimensional motion. But, a serial snake-like robot could hardly do that because of the limitation of its 1-DOF joint structure. To meet the requirement of flexible locomotion, a parallel mechanism was proposed which was derived from the biological characteristic of snakes. The design applied a asymmetrical structure mimicking snake spines and muscles and it has the same level of dexterity compared with rotating joint. We obtain control equations for yawing and pitching angle by inverse kinematic solution. Then, the workspace is analyzed via screw theory and vector position equation. A non-model based control serpentine gait and a multiple beat rectilinear motion of snake-like robot with parallel mechanisms are introduced.

3-DOF bionic parallel mechanism design and analysis for a snake-like robot

In order to provide a CPM (continuous passive motion) machine for the rehabilitation of injured fingers and a means of quantitative detection and evaluation, we design the structure types of the CPM machine for injured fingers, and analyze the realization principles of the linkages of single degree of freedom and two degrees of freedom. A method of genetic algorithm dimension synthesis of the linkages based on the mechanical properties and motion properties is brought forward. Through the optimization calculation, we can know that the influence of the bars' dimensions to mechanical properties is slim but the motion properties are sensitive to them. The results show that by selecting proper bars' dimensions perfect mechanical properties and motion properties can be got

Yili Fu

Papers

Laparoscopic Robot Design and Kinematic Validation

Smooth transition of the CPG-based controller for snake-like robots

A Navigation Robot with Reconfigurable Chassis and Bionic Wheel

3-DOF bionic parallel mechanism design and analysis for a snake-like robot

Structure Types Design and Genetic Algorithm Dimension Synthesis of a CPM Machine for Injured Fingers