title: Modular design of a miniaturized surgical robot system.
abstract: Currently, there are only a small number of robotic systems used in various surgical fields. As modified industrial robot systems have shown significant limitations in the past, specialized kinematic solutions have been proposed for specific surgical applications. The majority of these systems are designed for specific applications in only a limited number of cases. The acquisition and operating costs are high, hindering the dissemination and broad clinical application of such systems. To address this problem, a modular mini-robot system is proposed, which can be easily adapted to different application-specific requirements. Therefore, the requirements of different applications have been categorized and clustered to a standardized requirement profile. Next, a modular robot based on a hybrid kinematic module structure has been developed. This concept has been implemented and tested in in vitro studies for different applications, such as revision total hip replacement and unicondylar knee arthroplasty. User-orientated tests of the intraoperative handling, as well as accuracy tests, proved the feasibility of the concept.
authors.affiliation: WTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Niggemeyer
authors.forename: Meiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Annegret
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Niesche
authors.forename: Matías
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: de la Fuente
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Komadinic
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Radermacher
mesh_terms: D001178:Arthroplasty / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006801:Humans; D008328:Man-Machine Systems; D008904:Miniaturization; D012371:Robotics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D025321:Surgery, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*; D018511:Systems Integration