Home // International Journal On Advances in Life Sciences, volume 6, numbers 3 and 4, 2014 // View article
Authors:
Peter P. Pott
Markus Hessinger
Roland Werthschützky
Helmut F. Schlaak
Eugen Nordheimer
Essameddin Badreddin
Achim Wagner
Keywords: exoskeleton, orthopedic surgery, human-machine interaction, behavior-based system decomposition
Abstract:
A great number of medical robotics projects is driven by researchers all around the globe. Aim is to enhance surgery output, accelerate the procedure or to shorten post-operative convalescence. In most cases, the surgeon interacts with a machine directly by some kind of remote control in general soft tissue surgery or robotic systems recapitulate pre-programmed trajectories, e.g., during milling of cavities. One option to achieve a better acceptance in human robot interaction systems in operating theatre is to use exoskeletons for tight integration. This is widely accomplished in body rehabilitation to provide patients with continuous passive or active motion. However the way to commercial application is long for many systems. In this paper for an anthropomorphic upper extremity exoskeleton worn by the surgeon during orthopedic interventions (e.g., pedicle drilling) first results concerning control strategy and user guidance are presented. The system is intended to enhance overall task-precision as the surgeon is guided by optic, acoustic, and haptic perception. The parallel flux of forces and the inherently wearable robot base attached to his back allow the surgeon to directly maintain responsibility for surgery. The mechanical design as well as the control strategy are described briefly. The device provides seven concentric axes and uses conventional DC motors and wire gears to deliver torque. An optical tracking system is employed to provide low-latency absolute position data of the system and the patient. A User Guidance Opto-Acoustic Display is utilized to provide the surgeon with information on position and orientation of the tool in six degrees of freedom with respect to the desired trajectory. The control strategy is decomposed into several levels. First experiments have demonstrated the correlation between provided workspace and space requirements during pedicle screw placement and an intuitive handling of the user guidance system to follow a desired trajectory.
Pages: 272 to 278
Copyright: Copyright (c) to authors, 2014. Used with permission.
Publication date: December 30, 2014
Published in: journal
ISSN: 1942-2660