Critical microsurgery tasks such as small blood vessel anastomosis (on vessels smaller than 1.5mm in diameter) demand great manual dexterity and precision, and are barely tenable by even the most experienced and skilled vascular surgeons. Robotic micro-manipulation devices are an obvious solution to this problem as they provide precise, repeatable motion at the sub-millimeter scale without the low frequency tremor that limits the success of manual procedures. In order to be clinically effective and applicable to a wide range of surgical procedures (open heart surgery, reconstructive surgery, ophthalmic interventions), such robotic devices must provide significant improvements on the motion quality, haptic feedback diagnostic capability, and clinical outcomes achievable with current surgical instruments and procedures.
The project will leverage new soft robot fabrication technologies to create wearable devices for augmenting human motion. This work will entail several scientific and technical investigations including those on the development of energy-dense actuation systems (wearable, renewable pneumatics), human-robot co-adaption through wearable sensors and neuromuscular conditioning (soft strain and pressure sensors, vibro-tactile muscle training), and surrogate proprioception.
Collaborations and Acknowledgements
The following are individuals that have contributed to the technical development of the proposed research project and who will likely collaborate with me on the project once funding and other resources have been secured.
- Ignacio Galiana, Graduate Student, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid – Centre for Automation and Robotics (UPM-CSIC)
- Manuel Ferre Perez, Professor Titular, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid – Centre for Automation and Robotics (UPM-CSIC)
Reference Publications
- Salisbury, J.K., Srinivasan, M.A. (1997). Phantom based haptic interaction with virtual objects. IEEE Computer Graphics Applications, vol. 17, no 5, p. 6-10
- Škorc, G., Zapušek, S., ?as, J., Šafari?, R. (2010). Virtual user interface for the remote control of a nanorobotic cell using a haptic-device. Strojniški vestnik – Journal of Mechanical Engineering, vol. 56, no. 7-8, p. 423-435.
- Peer, A., Buss, M. (2008). A New admittance-type haptic interface for bimanual manipulations. IEEE/ ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, vol. 13, no. 4, p. 416-428.
- Waldron, K.J., Tollon, K. (2003). Mechanical characterization of the immersion corp. haptic, bimanual, surgical simulation interface. 8th International Symposium on Experimental Robotics, vol. 5, p. 106-112.
- Okamura, Allison M. “Methods for haptic feedback in teleoperated robot-assisted surgery.” Industrial Robot: An International Journal 31.6 (2004): 499-508.
- McMahan, W., Gewirtz, J., Standish, D., Martin, P., Kunkel, J. A., Lilavois, M., … & Kuchenbecker, K. J. (2011). Tool contact acceleration feedback for telerobotic surgery. Haptics, IEEE Transactions on, 4(3), 210-220.
- Ferre, M., Galiana, M., Wirz, R., Tuttle, N. (2011). Haptic device for capturing and simulating hand manipulation rehabilitation. IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, vol. 16, no 5, p. 808-815.
- Strolz, M., Groten, R., Peer, A., Buss, M. (2011). Development and evaluation of a device for the haptic rendering of rotatory car doors. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, vol. 58, no. 8, p. 3133-3140.
- Coles, T.R., Meglan, D., John, N.W. (2011). The role of haptics in medical training simulators: A survey of the state of the art. IEEE Transactions on Haptics, vol. 4, no. 1, p. 51-66.
- Javier López, Jose Breñosa, Ignacio Galiana, Manuel Ferre, Antonio Giménez and Jorge Barrio. “Mechanical Desing Optimization for Multi-Finger Haptic Devices Applied to Virtual Grasping Manipulation” Journal of Mechanical Engineering 2012.
- Ignacio Galiana, Jose Breñosa, Jorge Barrio and Manuel Ferre. “New Control Architecture Based on PXI for a 3-Finger Haptic Device Applied to Virtual Manipulation” Eurohaptics 2012, Tampere, Finland.