Setup optimization for MIS robots with two-passive joints

Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) robots are more and more used in hospitals and medical centers. However, the robot may have poor performance or the instruments can not reach all the surgical sites if the requirements of the robot are not considered. A setup optimization process that not only considers the surgery requirements but also considers the robot performance is proposed in the paper. In this process, incisions are chosen carefully by surgeons based on surgical requirements before surgery. The position of the robot relative to the incision is predetermined by maximizing the Global Conditioning Index (GCI) within the moving ranges of the joints. The posture of the robot is optimized also by maximizing the GCI and meets a set of performance constraints. This optimization process is repeated until the robot can reach all the surgical sites. The calculation results verify the effectiveness of this technique in robot-assisted MIS.