DUMASS-a surgical assist robot for minimal access surgery

摘要

For a limited, but increasing, number of surgical procedures, robots can provide the surgeon withvaluable assistance. They can help theatre staff to avoid the hazard of X-radiation by assisting duringthose parts of operations requiring the use of X-rays; they can remain stationary for longer than thehuman and this may help where precision and immobility are desirable; they can find access todifficult sites for inspection or repair. Surgical assist robots pose a different set of design constraintsto those of their industrial counterparts. Patient safety is paramount and this makes very stringentdemands on the command interface between the surgeon and the robot. In particular, commanddisambiguation is essential. After describing some significant experimental systems in use world-wide,a novel fully-integrated system for minimal access surgery called DUMASS is discussed together withsome operational features.