Pose planning for robotically assisted minimally invasive surgery

Abstract

Robotically assisted minimally invasive surgery (RAMIS) is an increasingly important technology, which leads to great advances in the field of general surgery. However, the potential of this technology is constrained by the collision occurred during the operation. One effective solution to this problem is through an efficient preoperative planning for the robotic system, including port placement, robot base placement and pose planning. This paper mainly discusses the pose planning problem, referred to as the initial configuration of stationary joints, and describes a pose planning method for the minimally invasive robotic surgery system currently under developed. This method utilizes an optimization procedure, which includes criteria to guarantee a collision-avoidance operation, under the constraint of ensuring the fixed positions of entry port in patient's body, to position the stationary joints at the beginning of the operation properly.