Sensing and mechatronic systems for minimally invasive surgery and therapy

拟议的研究计划侧重于传感和机电系统，适用于手术机器人，医疗设备和手术培训系统，特别侧重于微创手术。微创手术通过小切口进行，通常直径约为10毫米。虽然对患者有益，但限制访问给临床医生带来了许多挑战。其中一个主要问题是无法像在类似的开放式手术中那样以同样的方式操作和感受内部结构。这项工作的目标是提高微创技术的性能、感觉和安全性，同时着眼于简单和经济。这是通过开发专门的机电工具和传感系统来实现的。本研究的近期目标涉及三个不同的领域：1。一种能够准确测量底层组织刚度的可灭菌触觉传感器的开发和表征；2. 一种灵巧的微创机械臂的设计与控制，适用于下一代手术和治疗方法，如自然口和单口进入程序；和3。开发利用内窥镜图像和惯性传感器跟踪手术或治疗器械运动的技术。这些目标面临着许多共同的挑战，包括微创评估所需的小尺寸，在温暖潮湿的环境中操作的需要，防止生物物质的收集或捕获，以及承受极端温度，湿度和灭菌程序的压力。拟议的研究结果预计将对加拿大卫生保健和医疗设备行业具有特别重要的意义。这项研究所提供的改进的传感和操作能力将使心脏、胸部、腹部、神经、骨科和胎儿外科和治疗程序的从业人员受益。以上概述的发展可以应用于培训、诊断、治疗和手术的设备和系统。

The proposed research program focuses on sensing and mechatronic systems that are suitable for surgical robots, medical devices and surgical training systems, with a particular focus on minimally invasive procedures. Minimally invasive procedures are performed though small incisions, typically about 10 mm across. While benefical to patients, the restricted access introduces many challenges for clinicians. One of the major problems is the inability to manipulate and feel internal structures in the same manner as would be possible in a comparable open procedure. The goal of this work is to improve the performance, feel, and safety of minimally invasive technologies with an eye towards simplicity and economy. This is achieved through the development of specialized mechatronic tools and sensing systems. The near term objectives of this research address three different areas: 1. development and characterization of a sterilizable tactile sensor that can accurately measure underlying tissue stiffness; 2. design and control of a dexterous minimally invasive manipulator, suitable for next-generation surgical and therapeutic approaches such as natural orifice and single port access procedures; and 3. development of techniques to track surgical or therapeutic instrument motion using endoscopic images and inertial sensors. A number of challenges are common to these objectives including the small size required for minimally invasive assess, the need to operate in warm and wet environments, preventing the collection or trapping of biomatter, and withstanding the extreme temperatures, humidity and pressures of sterilization procedures. The results of the proposed research are expected to be of particular significance to the Canadian health care and medical device industries. The improved sensing and manipulation capabilities afforded by this research will benefit practitioners of cardiac, thoracic, abdominal, neurological, orthopaedic and fetal surgical and therapeutic procedures. The developments outlined above may be applied to devices and systems for training, diagnosis, therapy and surgery.