Abstract
Complications in and post conventional invasive procedures makes minimal invasive surgery well accepted in society. It causes less pain and scarring, faster recovery, and reduces operative trauma for patients. To overcome the difficulties of limited steerability and stiffness control of conventional scope, a continuously curving manipulator actuated by smart material named shape memory alloys (SMA) is proposed in this paper. The segmented scope consisted of a compression spring backbone and three SMA actuators to dynamically control the shape of each segment of the manipulator as and when required. A detailed study was carried out to simulate the constraints of the manipulator and fit it to a given random curve in a 3-dimensional (3D) space in the best possible way. The paper also includes testing of one segment of the prototype with bending angles and force produced during actuation. Actuation time and cooling time, which is issue using SMA practically, are also discussed briefly. The manipulator seems to be a promising device to be able to follow given random complex 3D trajectories and vary segment stiffness as and when required.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Loeve A, Breedveld P, Dankelman J (2010) Scopes too flexible…and too stiff. IEEE Pulse 1(3):26–41
Webster RJ, Jones BA (2010) Design and kinematic modeling of constant curvature continuum robots: a review. Int J Robot Res 29(13):1661–1683
Jones BA, Walker ID (2006) Kinematics for multi-section continuum robots. IEEE Trans Robot 22(1):45–53
Jones BA, Walker ID (2006) Practical kinematics for real-time implementation of continuum robots. IEEE Trans Robot 22(6):1087–1099
Thomann G, Betemps M, Redarce T (2003) The development of a bendable colonoscopic tip. IEEE Int Conf Robot Autom 1:658–663
Ikuta K, Ichikawa H, Suzuki K et al (2006) Multi-degree of freedom hydraulic pressure driven safety active, catheter. IEEE Int Conf Robot Autom 1:4161–4166
Ikuta K, Tsukamoto M, Hirose S (1998) Shape memory alloy servo actuator system with electric resistance feedback and application for active endoscope. IEEE Int Conf Robot Autom 1:427–430
Fukuda T, Guo S, Kosuge K et al (1994) Micro active catheter system with multi degrees of freedom. IEEE Int Conf Robot Autom 3:2290–2295
Haga Y, Mizushima M, Matsunaga T et al (2005) Active bending ileus tube using shape memory alloy for treatment of intestinal obstruction. In: 3rd IEEE/EMBS special topic conference on microtechnology in medicine and biology, pp 249–252
Ho M, Desai JP (2009) Characterization of SMA actuator for applications in robotic neurosurgery. In: Annual international conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, pp 6856–6859
Chirikjian G, Burdick JW (1994) A modal approach to hyper-redundant manipulator kinematics. IEEE Trans Robot Autom 10(3):343–354
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
About this article
Cite this article
Arora, A., Ambe, Y., Kim, T.H. et al. Development of a maneuverable flexible manipulator for minimally invasive surgery with varied stiffness. Artif Life Robotics 19, 340–346 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10015-014-0184-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10015-014-0184-7