18 accepted papers
Current platforms for Transoral Robotic Surgery (TORS) are suboptimal for confined oropharyngeal workspaces, particularly in pediatric applications. To address this, we present the design and characterization of a novel cable-driven robotic instrument providing 6 degrees-of-freedom (DoF)—shaft roll,…
Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is a technically difficult, minimally invasive, organ preserving resection technique that yields improved clinical outcomes when compared to current conventional procedures but requires experienced surgeons and specialized skills. Difficulty in applying tension
Open Spina Bifida (OSB) is a congenital neural tube defect that affects approximately 1 in 1000 births worldwide. Robotic in-utero OSB repair provides a minimally invasive alternative to open-surgery, which places significant strain on both baby and mother. Recent advancements in da Vinci miniature
Craniosynostosis involves premature fusion of the cranial sutures resulting in abnormal skull morphology and elevated intracranial pressure. Surgical intervention is necessary to correct the skull shape and to allow for unrestricted brain growth. This study presents a novel snake robot designed for
Concentric tube robots (CTRs) hold great potential for minimally invasive surgery, offering flexibility, small diameters, and the ability to navigate within complex anatomical structures. While machine learning models have been increasingly used to predict the kinematics of CTRs, there is a lack of
Knowledge of the tip contact force in continuum robots, which are often used as medical instruments, is critical for clinical applications. It enhances the interventionalist's decision-making, navigation efficiency, and procedural safety. However, accurately determining the tip contact force in conv
Open Spina Bifida (OSB) is a congenital neural tube defect where a major component of the procedure to repair the defect involves the closure of a lesion wound through suturing. For a minimally invasive approach, tools entering the uterus to access the fetus should be as thin as possible to minimize…
Dexterity is demanded for an endoscopic tool to handle complicated procedures in neurosurgery, e.g., removing diseased tissue from inside the deep brain along a tortuous path. Current robotic tools are either rigid or lack wristed motion ability at the tip, leading to limited usage in minimally inva…
Autonomous surgical robotics is a growing area of research, with advances being made in the areas of vision and control. Central to this research is the need for simulations to facilitate data collection and simulate learning environments for Reinforcement Learning (RL) agents. Recent simulators hav…
Concentric tube robots are catheter-sized continuum robots that show dexterous movement for minimally invasive surgical procedures. However, one of the major challenges to the practical usage of concentric tube robots is their instability, which potentially leads to the risk of tissue rupture. The s
This paper presents a dynamic constraint formulation to provide protective virtual fixtures of 3D anatomical structures from polygon mesh representations. The proposed approach can anisotropically limit the tool motion of surgical robots without any assumption of the local anatomical shape close to…
During the last two decades, minimally invasive surgery (MIS) has become popular because it offers advantages such as less pain, faster recovery, improved cosmesis, and reduced complications. Single-port laparoscopic surgery is a form of MIS where surgeons operate exclusively through a single entry.…
In this letter, a novel end-effector for surgical applications is presented that uses magnetic actuation in lieu of a more traditional cable-driven tool with the goal of providing high dexterity in hard-to-reach locations by decoupling the tool actuation from the rest of the surgical system. The gri
This paper presents a minimally invasive ultrasonic bone cutting tool designed for the da Vinci® research kit (dVRK). An ultrasonic transducer is modelled using finite element software, and correlated with testing results using an impedance analyzer. A multi-objective genetic algorithm is then used…
One of the major problems facing the development and road to practical usage of concentric tube continuum robots in surgical environments is that of instability. This issue, also known as the snapping problem, is caused by a tube having a high bending to torsional stiffness ratio (BTSR). Past effort…
In clinical practice, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is used to locate a lesion/tumor for bone biopsy in children. However, there is a lack of MR-compatible tools that can be used simultaneously during imaging and biopsy while maintaining surgical accuracy and safety. The Pediatric Surgery Robot (…
We present a kinetostatic model for a needle-sized notched tube continuum joint design, and examine the impact that the design parameters have on both stiffness and joint kinematics. The joint is fabricated by removing a series of asymmetric notches from a metal tube. By fixing a cable to the distal…