Development of Surgical Robot System for Fetal Surgery

本研究的临床目标是微创胎儿手术治疗先天性横隔疝(CDH)的气管内气囊闭塞。手术的目标是产前临时气管闭塞，扩大胎儿的肺，是一种有希望的严重病例的手术。应该使用操纵器插入气球以用于气管闭塞。我们提出了一种用于宫内胎儿气管闭塞手术的新型机器人操作手。在这项研究中，开发了一种具有球状关节的三单元机器人机械手，其杆径为2.4 mm，使用绳索驱动机构来接近胎儿气管，而不会对胎儿组织造成损害。机器人机械手的结构很薄，有7个自由度，可以避免损坏脆弱的胎儿组织。

The clinical target of this study is intratracheal balloon occlusion from minimally invasive fetal surgery for Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia(CDH). The target for the surgery is a prenatal temporary tracheal occlusion, which enlarges the fetal lungs, and is a promising procedure for severe cases. A balloon is supposed to be inserted for tracheal occlusion using the manipulator. We propose a novel robotic manipulator for intrauterine fetal surgery for tracheal occlusion. In this research, the 3-unit robotic manipulator with ball joint-shaped arthroses and a shaft diameter of 2.4 mm using a wire-driven mechanism has been developed to approach the fetal trachea without the risk of damage to fetal tissue. The robotic manipulator has a thin structure and 7 degrees of freedom to avoid damage to the fragile fetal tissue.