Design and preliminary test results of a novel microsurgical telemanipulator system

In this paper a novel telemanipulator system is proposed, able to assist during reconstructive surgery procedures involving microsurgical techniques. The proposed solution is based on maintaining work methods and infrastructure in the operating room (OR). An extensive analysis of these conventional methodologies, combined with a review of currently available alternative solutions, has led to the design of a new 7DOF master-slave system. The modular design concept is focused on precision, safety, ease-of-use, and cost-efficiency. A proof-of-concept has been tested, whereas preliminary results indicate a bidirectional precision at the slave end effector of 70 μm. Through optimization of the control software, a bidirectional precision down to 30-40 μm can be achieved.