Design of a 3-DOF parallel mechanism for the enhancement of endonasal surgery

Abstract

Additive manufacturing was used to build a large scale prototype of a 3-DOF, 3-PRS parallel manipulator designed for enhancing the mobility of instruments used in endonasal neurosurgery. The prototype is 5 times larger than the design, with an outer diameter of 25mm. It uses custom ball and socket joints to provide pitch and roll capabilities of ±60° while remaining compact. Testing of the robots range of motion shows the desired workspace is achievable. Visual tracking was used to record the precision of this motion. Positioning errors were relatively low with a root mean squared error of 1.1°. The prototype exhibits high strength and is able to withstand axial forces of 80 N and torques up to 300 N mm. Future research will focus on the development of a 5 mm diameter manipulator.