Towards Robot-Assisted Vitreoretinal Surgery: Force-Sensing Micro-Forceps Integrated with a Handheld Micromanipulator.
In vitreoretinal practice, controlled tremor-free motion and limitation of applied forces to the retina are two highly desired features. This study addresses both requirements with a new integrated system: a force-sensing motorized micro-forceps combined with an active tremor-canceling handheld micromanipulator, known as Micron. The micro-forceps is a 20 Ga instrument that is mechanically decoupled from its handle and senses the transverse forces at its tip with an accuracy of 0.3 mN. Membrane peeling trials on a bandage phantom revealed a 60-95% reduction in the 2-20 Hz band in both the tip force and position spectra, while peeling forces remained below the set safety threshold.
CISST ERC at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218 USA.
Berk
B
Gonenc
Viterbi School of Engineering at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles CA, 90089, USA.
Ellen
E
Feldman
Wilmer Eye Institute at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287 USA.
Peter
P
Gehlbach
Wilmer Eye Institute at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287 USA.
James
J
Handa
CISST ERC at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218 USA.
Russell H
RH
Taylor
CISST ERC at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218 USA.
Iulian
I
Iordachita