A master manipulator with a remote-center-of-motion kinematic structure for a minimally invasive robotic surgical system

Abstract

BackgroundIn robotic surgical systems, commercial master devices have limitations owing to insufficient workspace and lack of intuitiveness. To overcome these limitations, a remote-center-of-motion (RCM) master manipulator was proposed. MethodsThe feasibility of the proposed RCM structure was evaluated through kinematic analysis using a conventional serial structure. Two performance comparison experiments (peg transfer task and objective transfer task) were conducted for the developed master and Phantom Omni. ResultsThe kinematic analysis results showed that compared with the serial structure, the proposed RCM structure has better performance in terms of design efficiency (19%) and workspace quality (59.08%). Further, in comparison with Phantom Omni, the developed master significantly increased task efficiency and significantly decreased workload in both experiments. ConclusionsThe comparatively better performance in terms of intuitiveness, design efficiency, and operability of the proposed master for a robotic system for minimally invasive surgery was confirmed through kinematic and experimental analysis.