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Development and experiments of a continuum robotic system for transoral laryngeal surgery

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International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Currently, self-retaining laryngoscopic surgery is not suitable for some patients, and there are dead zones relating to surgical field exposure and operation. The quality of the surgery can also be affected by the long periods of time required to complete it. Teleoperated continuum robots with flexible joints are expected to solve these issues. However, at the current stage of developing transoral robotic surgery systems, their large size affects the precision of surgical operative actions and there are high development and treatment costs.

Methods

We fabricated a flexible joint based on selective laser melting technology and designed a shallow neural network-based kinematic modeling approach for a continuum surgical robot. Then, human model and animal experiments were completed by master–slave teleoperation to verify the force capability and dexterity of the robot, respectively.

Results

As verified by human model and animal experiments, the designed continuum robot was demonstrated to achieve transoral laryngeal surgical field exposure without laryngoscope assistance, with sufficient load capability to finish the biopsy of vocal fold tissue in living animals.

Conclusion

The designed continuum robotic system allows the biopsy of vocal fold tissue without laryngoscope assistance. Its stiffness and dexterity indicate the system’s potential for applications in the diagnosis and treatment of vocal fold nodules and polyps. The limitations of this robotic system as shown in the experiments were also analyzed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Forming Technology & Equipment, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200030, China

    Fan Feng, Wuzhou Hong & Le Xie

  2. Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Shanghai General Hospital of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 201620, China

    Yuan Zhou & KeYong Li

  3. Institute of Medical Robotics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Le Xie

Authors
  1. Fan Feng
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  2. Yuan Zhou
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  3. Wuzhou Hong
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  4. KeYong Li
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  5. Le Xie
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Contributions

The robotic system was developed by FF, WH and LX. YZ and KL performed the animal and human model experiments. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Le Xie.

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Funding

This work was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grants 62133009, 61973211, 51911540479, M-0221, in part by the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality under Grants 21550714200 and in part by the Project of Institute of Medical Robotics of Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Conflict of interest

All authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethics approval

All procedures performed in studies involving animals were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Chinese Regulations for the Administration of Affairs Concerning Experimental Animals. The study was approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of Shanghai General Hospital (No. 2019AW044).

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Feng, F., Zhou, Y., Hong, W. et al. Development and experiments of a continuum robotic system for transoral laryngeal surgery. Int J CARS 17, 497–505 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11548-022-02558-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11548-022-02558-7

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