18 accepted papers
Tendon-driven continuum robots (TDCRs) have received widespread attention in the medical domain due to their slender shape and flexibility. Modeling the dynamics of TDCRs involves continuum mechanics that result in nonlinear and computationally intensive models posing challenges for real-time contro
In this paper, we validate the effectiveness of the optimal planning algorithms we have developed for devising surgical plans for Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy (PCNL) using patient-specific Concentric-Tube Robots (CTRs). To do so, we built a life-sized phantom model of the right hemithorax, replicati
Electroadhesive clutches have attracted a great deal of interest in the last decade as semi-active actuators for human-robot interaction due to their lightweight, low power consumption, and tunable high-torque output capability. However, because of the complexity of their dynamics, in most cases, th…
The time-domain passivity approach has been proposed in the literature in a variety of formats to guarantee the stability of teleoperation leader-follower systems. The conventional use of the proposed technique utilizes the control effort at the follower side as the force feedback to be sent back to…
This paper presents a novel light-weight back-drivable inherently-safe robotic mechanism for delivering ankle rehabilitation therapies. The robot is designed to be used as the ankle module of a multi-purpose lower-limb rehabilitation robot. A novel friction-based safety feature has been introduced t…
Pathological hand tremor (PHT) is among the most common movement symptoms of several neurological disorders including Parkinson's disease and essential tremor. Extracting PHT is of paramount importance in several engineering and clinical applications such as assistive and robotic rehabilitation tech
Tremor extraction techniques are considered as the central component of several rehabilitative and compensatory robotic technologies, and the accuracy of such filters can directly affect the performance of the aforementioned technologies. Motivated by this fact, the paper proposes an adaptive estima…
Tendon-driven mechanisms used in robotic surgery exhibit strong nonlinearities, particularly a static backlash-like hysteresis, in their motion transmission behavior. In this paper, an extension of a previously developed model is proposed that allows for estimation of angular displacements in multi-…
In spite of the remarkable benefits that minimally invasive surgery provides for patients, the absence of force feedback is still a significant disadvantage. Several studies have been performed to address this issue; however, an accurate sterilizable force sensing technology for measuring axial and…
Due to their small size and flexibility, fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors have been integrated into needle-sized continuum robots for shape estimation and force measurement. The challenge in extending previous shape and force sensing technologies to pre-curved continuum robots, such as concentric-t
Tumor localization in traditional lung resection surgery requires manual palpation of the deflated lung through a thoracotomy. It is a painful procedure that is not suitable for many patients. Therefore, a multisensory mechatronic device was designed to localize tumors using a minimally invasive app…
In this paper, a new passivity-based technique is proposed to analyze and guarantee the stability of haptics-enabled telerobotic rehabilitation systems where there is a possibility of having more sources of non-passivity than communication delays. In practice, the difficulty of therapeutic exercises…
Lack of dexterous control over the position of a catheter's distal tip and not having any feedback from the quality of tip - tissue contact are among the factors that make the conventional catheter-based method of performing cardiac ablation very challenging. To resolve these issues, in this paper,…
In this paper, a robotics-assisted articulating ultrasonic surgical scalpel for minimally invasive soft tissue cutting and coagulation is designed and developed. For this purpose, the optimal design of a Langevin transducer with stepped horn profile is presented for internal-body applications. The m…
In our previous work [1], the potential benefits of Magneto-Rheological Fluid based actuators to the field of haptics were studied. Our results showed that the superior mechanical attributes of such actuators contribute to improvement of stability and transparency in haptic devices. To this end, a n…
This paper reports on the performance evaluation of Magneto-Rheological Fluid (MRF) based actuation systems when used in haptic interfaces. MRF-based actuators exhibit superior characteristics, which can significantly contribute to the transparency and stability of haptic devices. To validate this s…
This paper presents a Therapist-in-the-Loop (TIL) framework for robotics-assisted mirror rehabilitation therapy integrated with adaptive Assist-as-Needed (ANN) training, to be adjusted based on the impairment and disability level of the patient's affected limb. Closed-loop system stability has been…
In this paper, based on the apparent stiffness analysis of a dual tendon-sheath system, we propose a method for using a surgical instrument of the da Vinci surgical robotic system (from Intuitive Surgical Inc.) for estimation of mechanical properties of tissues. The performance of the method is expe…