Robotic handler for interchangeability with various size of laparoscope

Abstract

Recently, minimally invasive surgery is becoming popular because it offers several benefits to patients and surgeons. Many surgical robot systems are being developed. Among various systems, we are developing modularized system which has strong point in terms of size and accessibility. In this study, we propose the laparoscope handler as a module for the robot surgery system. Most laparoscopic handlers, developed up to this point, have lower accessibility due to their bulkiness and lower usability. In this paper, we solve these problems by utilizing 4-DOF with double- parallelogram remote center of motion and collet chuck mounting method for commercial laparoscope. As a result, our laparoscopic handler system is compact, low-cost and uses minimal workspace without any safety issues. Furthermore, by using teleoperation, surgeons can utilize our system easily.