The design of a remotely operated surgical assistant with vision tracking capability
Abstract
Minimally invasive surgeries, as they require minimal incisions relative to open surgery, facilitate postoperative recovery, improve cosmesis, and reduce pain. Medical instruments are introduced through 0.5-1.5 cm incisions in laparoscopy, or through natural body orifices in NOTES. Manual manipulation of the surgical instruments is required by surgical staff, and maneuvering of these instruments, including the endoscope with an attached camera, is limited by the fulcrum created by the entry point. The instrumentation used for laparoscopic surgery diminishes the working envelope of instruments, relative to open surgery. A remotely operated surgical assistant (ROSA) system has been developed, without the maneuverability limitations of previous devices, to further improve minimally invasive surgical procedures. While the developed system could be used to automatically and remotely move a number of devices inside a body during surgery, a prototype system orients a miniature camera. A wireless camera system fixed inside a 2 degree of freedom gimbal device is placed into the body during a minimally invasive surgery, and its orientation is automatically manipulated by external magnetic fields to follow a point of interest. A small neodymium magnet fixed to the camera is magnetically coupled to a larger permanent magnet outside the body. Two motors orient the pitch and roll rotations of the exterior magnet on a gimbal device. Automated vision tracking was implemented with the ROSA system to follow a point of interest during surgery. Step response testing showed that the internal camera can be oriented at approximately 10 degrees/second with a proportional controller of gain 0.3. The ROSA system was found to be functional with up to 12 inches separating interior and exterior magnets, and calibration schemes to automatically determine relative angular orientation between inner and outer systems were found to be effective. The system offers many benefits to patients, as fewer incisions are required for use of ROSA. Further, the system improves surgery for staff, as the camera field of view is augmented and automated, and crowding is mitigated.
Degree
M.S.M.E.
Advisors
Cipra, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Electrical engineering|Mechanical engineering|Robotics
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