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Session: Poster session 2 (Odd numbers)
Session starts: Friday 27 January, 10:00
Presentation starts: 10:00

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Izadyar Tamadon (University of Twente)
Gabrielle Tuijthof (University of Twente)
Arianna Menciassi (Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna)

Abstract:
Designing efficient flexible manipulators in Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) demands high maneuverability, accuracy, and safety. Current handheld manipulators in the state of art are limited in flexibility and tip’s force/position information. In this work, we propose a 3D printed handheld steerable manipulator with high torsion and axial stiffness as well as low bending stiffness by combining four helicoids and a continuum backbone. Simulation results in SOLIDWORKS software show that simplified static modeling can be used to analyze the distributed stress in the helical design. Design optimization has been subsequently conducted to investigate the structural parameters for further performance improvement. In order to steer this flexible manipulator, a control handle was designed by combining commercial compression spring and 3D printed backbones. Moreover, to estimate the tip position and external forces on the tip, inductance sensors in the form of commercial tension springs were combined inside the cable actuation design. On-bench experiments have been conducted to analyze and validate the bending and loading performances with respect to kinematic models. The manipulator was equipped with surgical grasper to perform pick and place experiments in a confined space, indicating great potential for the applications in MIS and endoscopic procedures. The experimental results show that the proposed handheld manipulator achieves acceptable distal end positioning accuracy with an average error of 7%. Meanwhile, the proposed sensing can estimate the static payload on the tip with an average accuracy of 5%. We showed the importance of stress-strain simulations while prototyping steerable surgical instruments by brittle 3D printer materials and the efficient sensory data to a successful navigation and load estimations on the distal tip.