A cable-driven parallel manipulator with force sensing capabilities for high-accuracy tissue endomicroscopy

TL;DR

This paper presents a cable-driven parallel manipulator for surgical endomicroscopy that offers precise force control and high-resolution movement, enhancing tissue imaging and micro-surgery applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel cable-driven manipulator integrated with a robotic instrument, enabling accurate force application and movement for tissue endomicroscopy.

Findings

Successful integration with da Vinci robot

High accuracy in force application and movement

Potential for diverse surgical applications

Abstract

This paper introduces a new surgical end-effector probe, which allows to accurately apply a contact force on a tissue, while at the same time allowing for high resolution and highly repeatable probe movement. These are achieved by implementing a cable-driven parallel manipulator arrangement, which is deployed at the distal-end of a robotic instrument. The combination of the offered qualities can be advantageous in several ways, with possible applications including: large area endomicroscopy and multi-spectral imaging, micro-surgery, tissue palpation, safe energy-based and conventional tissue resection. To demonstrate the concept and its adaptability, the probe is integrated with a modified da Vinci robot instrument.