Minimal invasive robotic surgery

The minimally invasive robotic surgery project especially considers a master-slave robot systems in which the master manipulator (often a kind of joystick) is controlled by the surgeon and in which the slave manipulator performs the operation on the patient. A computer interface provides the connection between the master and slave, hence in fact enabling the surgeon to perform a operation at distance and (more important) in an ergonomic better position.

The slave manipulator consists of a mechanism that follows the motions of the master manipulator and that performs the operation with the help of surgical tools, while the surgeon gets visual feedback on a screen from a small camera in the operative area. This permits the use of scaled motions so that large movements of the master will result in accurate micro-motions, with small forces and without tremor, applied by the slave. In this way, also soft tissues in the body can be handled appropriately.

Photo: Bart van Overbeeke

For the moment, master-slave systems are being clinically used mainly ‘closed’ heart surgery. The robot performs the operation through small incisions in the body, which is also called "key-hole" surgery. Mostly, one manipulator arm carries a small camera, while two other manipulator arms carry interchangeable tools, such as scissors and grippers. However, at this time one of the key problems is that the systems are huge and very expensive. Furthermore, there is no sense of feel fed back from the slave to the master [i.e., no so-called tactile feedback], and during the operation the surgeon must rely upon high-quality endoscopic vision for monitoring the process.

Research at the TU/e focuses on new designs of microsurgical instruments that enable new surgical procedures with better outcome for the patient. Safety demands are very important, because the systems need to work in a complex and changing environment and no harm may be done to the patient.

IME Technologies supported (in cooperation with the Technical Workshop GTD) the Control Systems Technology group of the TU/e by carrying out the project management and design of the electronics and control/safety software for the first master-slave prototype.