Inspection of the colon with an endoscope for early signs of cancer (colonoscopy) has become an extremely widespread procedure, since early treatment radically improves the outlook of patients. The procedure requires a close coordination between the sense of touch and vision to navigate the endoscope along the colon. This raises the need to develop efficient training methods for physicians. Training simulators based on virtual reality, where realistic graphics are combined with a mechatronic system providing haptic feedback, are alternative to traditional training methods. To provide physicians with realistic haptic sensations of an endoscopic procedure, we have designed a haptic interface, instrumented a clinical endoscope and combined them with a simulation software for colonoscopy. In this contribution, we present the mechatronic components of the simulator. The haptic interface is able to generate high forces using the combination of electrical motors and brakes in a compact design. Experiments were performed to determine the characteristics of the device. A model-based control has been implemented and the results show that the control successfully compensates for the device nonlinearities, such as friction. The proposed haptic interface, together with the virtual reality, form a highly realistic training simulator for endoscopic surgeons, applicable not only to colonoscopy, but also to similar interventions.
Abstract-This paper describes the instrumentation of a clinical colonoscope needed for a novel colonoscopy simulation framework. The simulator consists of a compact and portable haptic interface and a virtual reality environment to provide real-time visualization. The proposed instrumentation enables tracking different functions of the colonoscope while keeping the ergonomic unchanged.
Open source software have evolved into powerful tools for real-time control of mechatronic systems. They are of interest for academic purposes, as they promise high flexibility at low cost. In this paper, we investigate the performance of an open source control architecture based on the Linux Real-Time Application Interface (RTAI) through two applications, a haptic interface for surgery simulation and a setup for the micromachining of glass. Both applications demand a compact real-time system with sufficient precision (i.e. low jitter) for online process control and data acquisition. The real-time control has been realized on a laptop with a USB-port data acquisition card. Performance measurement results show that high quality real-time control can be performed up to 2kHz via USB communication, which is sufficient for a large range of robotic or mechatronic applications. Drawbacks like the need for considerable knowledge of Linux internals for successful installation as well as the current limitations are discussed and strategies are proposed to overcome these. Both setups are currently being used for ongoing research as well as for educational purposes.
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