Development of manipulator including exchange-type multi-articulated end-effector for single port surgical robot

Recently, various surgical robots have been developed for a minimal invasive surgery. In this study, we developed a small sized manipulator for a minimally invasive surgery robot, which could show safe and precise performances. The small manipulator consists of two articulated end-effectors and a stereo endoscope. The two articulated end-effectors included 5 degree of freedom (DOF) gripping end-effector and 4 DOF suction and injection end-effector. The stereo-endoscope makes a 3 dimensional (3D) image of the surgical area for a surgeon. The developed small manipulator was designed as modular structures and each end-effector module and the stereo-endoscope could be easily replaced and sterilized. For single port surgery, the small manipulator has a tube shape with the form of a trocar and three channels for the insertion of the two end-effectors and the stereo-endoscope. Through these channels, the two manipulators could access the affected area of the surgical area and could make independent surgical works. The two articulated end-effectors with a small size have precise and simple driving mechanisms. In addition, the interferences between every driving axis in the end-effectors were minimized. Consequently, for single port surgery, the precise surgical manipulator with multi-articulated end-effectors and the stereo-endoscope was designed and fabricated. The performances of the proposed manipulator were evaluated.