Design of a smart 3D-printed wristed robotic surgical instrument with embedded force sensing and modularity

Abstract

This paper introduces the design and characterization of a robotic surgical instrument produced mainly with rapid prototyping techniques. Surgical robots have generally complex structures and have therefore an elevated cost. The proposed instrument was designed to incorporate minimal number of components to simplify the assembly process by leveraging the unique strength of rapid prototyping for producing complex, assemble-free components. The modularity, cost-effectiveness and fast manufacturing and assembly features offer the possibility of producing patient or task specific instruments. The proposed robot incorporates an integrated force measurement system, thus allowing the determination of the force exchanged between the instrument and the environment. Detailed experiments were performed to validate the functionality and force sensing capability of the instrument.