Page 279 - Flexible Robotics in Medicine

CHAPTER 12

Flexible robotic platform with multiple-

bending tendon-driven mechanism

1
Wenjun Xu 1,2 , Adib Ridzuan Bin Mohamad Roslan and Hongliang Ren 1
1 2
Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Peng Cheng
Laboratory, Shenzhen, China

Robot-assisted surgery involves the use of multiple slimline tools to perform minimally invasive
surgical procedures such as diseases in urology, cardiology, and diseases of the head and neck,
with reduced complications for patients. Moreover, natural orifice transluminal endoscopic
surgery (NOTES) minimizes incision scars and postop complications through minimally invasive
procedures by utilizing the natural orifices of the body, such as the oral cavity or the anal cavity.
Much research has been done on the development of tendon-driven flexible robots. This chapter
taps on this concept of robotassisted surgical devices and focuses on developing a robotic
platform for a multiple-bendsection flexible robot in robot-assisted NOTES. This platform
explores the use of a tendondriven mechanism to actuate a multisection flexible robot that aims
to provide more degrees of freedom as compared to a single section to tackle more challenging
path obstacles. The main driving mechanical components provide a tensile force to the tendons
to initiate movements in the flexible robot in various degrees. The software configurations are
conducted with the kinematics algorithm, allowing the user to control the platform with the use
of a topside computer or a joystick. This platform hopes to provide the groundwork needed in
developing a simple tendon-driven flexible robot-assisted surgical device. This idea was
conceptualized and fabricated into a proof-of-concept prototype as a hands-on project.

12.1 Introduction

Robot-assisted surgery refers to performing surgical procedures using robotic systems as aids.
Robot-assisted surgery has begun to integrate into minimally invasive surgeries, and the main
concern for developing robot-assisted surgical systems is to overcome the limitations of such
procedures as well as enhance surgeon’s capabilities in performing surgical procedures [1].
Despite the beneficial outcomes of robot-assisted surgeries, surgeries involving robotic
systems further prove to have limitations. One major issue is cost-effectiveness [2]. Recent
studies indicate that the cost of robotic procedures is much higher than conventional

Flexible Robotics in Medicine.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-817595-8.00012-2 269
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