Surgical Slave with a Novel Method for Force Sensing and Trocar Friction Reduction

Abstract

Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) has had a major impact on modern day surgery, and has become the standard for various procedures. MIS however suffers from various impediments, and as a result, has seen robotic surgery gain rapid popularity. It is yet to be seen whether robotic surgery will cause another major paradigm shift, as these systems still require large costs, take up too much space, have an unclear cost benefit, and provide little or no force feedback. This paper presents a slave design for MIS, and a brief literature review on design requirements is given. A novel tool design for force/torque sensing is discussed, which uses an overcoat method to reduce measurement corruption at the trocar, and uses a single external 6-DOF f/t sensor.