A Rapid Instrument Exchange System for Humanoid Robots in Minimally Invasive Surgery

TL;DR

This paper introduces a teleoperated rapid instrument exchange system for humanoid robots in minimally invasive surgery, enhancing efficiency and reducing cognitive load during procedures.

Contribution

It presents a novel low-latency docking mechanism integrated with FPV perception, improving instrument exchange speed and robustness in clinical settings.

Findings

Novice users showed significant improvement after brief training.

System demonstrated high operational robustness in experiments.

Technical feasibility of stable instrument exchanges validated.

Abstract

Humanoid robot technologies have demonstrated immense potential for minimally invasive surgery (MIS). Unlike dedicated multi-arm surgical platforms, the inherent dual-arm configuration of humanoid robots necessitates an efficient instrument exchange capability to perform complex procedures, mimicking the natural workflow where surgeons manually switch instruments. To address this, this paper proposes an immersive teleoperated rapid instrument exchange system. The system utilizes a low-latency mechanism based on single-axis compliant docking and environmental constraint release. Integrated with real-time first-person view (FPV) perception via a head-mounted display (HMD), this framework significantly reduces operational complexity and cognitive load during the docking process. Comparative evaluations between experts and novices demonstrate high operational robustness and a rapidly converging learning curve; novice performance in instrument attachment and detachment improved substantially after brief training. While long-distance spatial alignment still presents challenges in time cost and collaborative stability, this study successfully validates the technical feasibility of humanoid robots executing stable instrument exchanges within constrained clinical environments.