Design of a master and slave transluminal endoscopic robot for natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery

Abstract

Natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) is an endoscopic surgical intervention technique for treatment within the intraperitoneal cavity, which utilizes natural orifices (i.e. mouth, vagina, anus, etc.) as the entry point. In line with minimally invasive surgery (MIS), NOTES aims to perform surgical procedures without skin incisions, thus eliminating unsightly scars. In this article, a master—slave robotic system is proposed to enable the endoscopist to perform demanding NOTES procedures, which are currently performed by surgeons in an opened or keyhole surgery setting. The robotic system consists of a master console and slave manipulators driven by tendon—sheath actuation. Force prediction at the slave end is also introduced in this article to provide force feedback to the surgeon. Using the developed robotic system, liver wedge resection has been conducted in animal trials with promising results.