The i2Snake Robotic Platform for Endoscopic Surgery

Abstract

Endoscopic procedures have transformed minimally invasive surgery as they allow the examination and intervention on a patient’s anatomy through natural orifices, without the need for external incisions. However, the complexity of anatomical pathways and the limited dexterity of existing instruments, limit such procedures mainly to diagnosis and biopsies. This paper proposes a new robotic platform: the Intuitive imaging sensing navigated and kinematically enhanced () robot that aims to improve the field of endoscopic surgery. The proposed robotic platform includes a snake-like robotic endoscope equipped with a camera, a light-source and two robotic instruments, supported with a robotic arm for global positioning and for insertion of the and a master interface for master–slave teleoperation. The proposed robotic platform design focuses on ergonomics and intuitive control. The control workflow was first validated in simulation and then implemented on the robotic platform. The results are consistent with the simulation and show the clear clinical potential of the system. Limitations such as tendon backlash and elongation over time will be further investigated by means of combined hardware and software solutions. In conclusion, the proposed system contributes to the field of endoscopic surgical robots and could allow to perform more complex endoscopic surgical procedures while reducing patient trauma and recovery time.

K‐FLEX: A flexible robotic platform for scar‐free endoscopic surgery

“…In this configuration, the actively steerable branches are fixed at the distal end of the overtube. The identified examples include MASTER and i2Snake . Some platforms including EndoSAMURAI, Cobra, and CYCLOPS provide an internal channel inside each steerable branch to allow for exchange of standard surgical instruments.…”

“…The identified examples include MASTER 5 and i2Snake. 8 Some platforms including EndoSAMURAI, 1 Cobra, 3 and CYCLOPS 9 provide an internal channel inside each steerable branch to allow for exchange of standard surgical instruments. The internal channel also enables the surgical tip to move forward from the steerable branches, creating a large workspace to grasp tissue.…”

“…Robotic technologies have overcome the limitations of these manual platforms facilitating intuitive and efficient multitasking control on the surgeon's side as well as the precise and intelligent movement of the robot on the patient's side. STRAS, MASTER, ViaCath, FLEX, i2Snake, and CYCLOPS systems have shown the possibility of advanced endoscopic surgery with their highly dexterous robotic arm. However, they also seem to have common difficulties in designing flexible manipulators with sufficient miniaturization and payload capability to perform various intraluminal surgical operations.…”

Effect of backlash hysteresis of surgical tool bending joints on task performance in teleoperated flexible endoscopic robot

“…The surgical tool used in this study was designed considering the workspace of the endoscopic robot platform K-FLEX developed by KAIST. 18 Considering the size of the tool developed in this study and the difference in length of the endoscopic robot platform surgical tool already developed, [19][20][21] the length of the needle coupler used to perform the pointing task was increased and decreased by 15 mm.…”

Positioning and stiffening of an articulated/continuum manipulator for implant delivery in minimally invasive surgery

“…1 A number of bendable manipulators were proposed for interventions when the target is not in straight-line access. Commonly, a distinction is made between articulated systems (manipulators composed of discrete rigid links connected by joints 2,3 ) and continuum systems (manipulators typically featuring an elastic structure, 4 whose deformed shape can be swept with continuous tangent frame 5 ). In addition, a few "hybrid" articulated/continuum designs have been recently proposed.…”