Flexible Robotics in Medicine: A Design Journey of Motion Generation Mechanisms and Biorobotic System Development

Flexible Robotics in Medicine: A Design Journey of Motion Generation Mechanisms and Biorobotic System Development provides a resource of knowledge and successful prototypes regarding flexible robots in medicine. With specialists in the medical field increasingly utilizing robotics in medical procedures, it is vital to improve current knowledge regarding technologies available. This book covers the background, medical requirements, biomedical engineering principles, and new research on soft robots, including general flexible robotic systems, design specifications, design rationale, fabrication, verification experiments, actuators and sensors in flexible medical robotic systems.

Presenting several projects as examples, the authors also discuss the pipeline to develop a medical robotic system, including important milestones such as involved regulations, device classifications and medical standards.

Covers realistic prototypes, experimental protocols and design procedures for engineering flexible medical roboticsCovers the full product development pipeline for engineering new flexible robots for medical applications, including design principles and design verificationsIncludes detailed information for application and development of several types of robots, including Handheld Concentric-Tube Flexible Robot for Intraocular Procedures, a Preliminary Robotic Surgery Platform with Multiple Section Tendon-Driven Mechanism, a Flexible Drill for Minimally Invasive Transoral Surgical Robotic System, Four-Tendon-Driven Flexible Manipulators, Slim Single-port Surgical Manipulator with Spring Backbones and Catheter-size Channels, and much more

Chapter 1: Slender snake-like endoscopic robots in surgery
Chapter 2: Prototyping soft origami quad-bellows robots from single-bellows characterization
Chapter 3: Cable-driven flexible endoscope utilizing diamond-shaped perforations: FlexDiamond
Chapter 4: Flexible steerable manipulator utilizing complementary configuration of multiple routing grooves and ball joints for stable omnidirectional
Chapter 5: Modular origami joint operator to create bendable motions with multiple radii
Chapter 6: Handheld flexible robot with concentric tubes aiming for intraocular procedures
Chapter 7: Tendon routing and anchoring for cable-driven single-port surgical manipulators with spring backbones and luminal constraints
Chapter 8: Compliant bending tubular mechanisms with variable groove patterns for flexible robotic drilling delivery
Chapter 9: Tendon-driven linkage for steerable guide of flexible bending manipulation
Chapter 10: Soft-bodied flexible bending mechanism with silent shape memory alloys aiming for robotic endoscopy
Chapter 11: Comparative mechanical analysis for flexible bending manipulators with quad-tendon antagonistic pairs
Chapter 12: Flexible robotic platform with multiple-bending tendon-driven mechanism
Chapter 13: Design evolution of a flexible robotic bending end-effector for transluminal explorations
Chapter 14: Force sensing in compact concentric tube mechanism with optical fibers
Chapter 15: Electromechanical characterization of magnetic responsive and conductive soft polymer
Chapter 16: Robotic transluminal Pan-and-Tilt Scope
Chapter 17: Single-port multichannel multi-degree-of-freedom robot with variable stiffness for natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery
Chapter 18: EndoGoose: flexible and steerable endoscopic forceps with actively pose-retaining bendable sections
Chapter 19: Flexible drill manipulator utilizing different rolling sliding joints for transoral drilling through the tracheal tissue
Chapter 20: Thermo-responsive hydrogel-based circular valve embedded with shape-memory actuators
Chapter 21: OmniFlex: omnidirectional flexible hand-held endoscopic manipulator with spheroidal joint