Development and validation of a two‐segment continuum robot for maxillary sinus surgery

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Existing rigid instruments have difficulties in backward inspection and operation. Moreover, the pathway to the maxillary sinus is curved and narrow, resulting in complex and repetitive manual operations. There is a necessity to develop a retro-flexing robot and achieve path-following motion. METHODS: A continuum robotic system is developed for maxillary sinus surgery (MSS). And the system adopts an anatomical constraint-based optimization of the follow-the-leader strategy to generate a safe control scheme along a given path. RESULTS: The accuracy of the system is evaluated, and the task of reaching deep-seated targets is performed in a constrained anatomical space. The simulations and experiments of the path-following motion have validated the feasibility of the proposed method. Furthermore, a preliminary porcine study is performed to assess the capability of instruments. CONCLUSIONS: The developed continuum robotic system can meet the requirements of MSS.