Surgical manipulator with balloon for stabilizing fetus in utero under ultrasound guidance

Abstract

This paper describes a surgical manipulator to stabilize intrauterine fetus with ultrasound image guidance. The manipulator includes an outline of 4 mm in diameter, a mechanism with 7 joints, and a set of balloons. The manipulator is arranged as straight form and the balloon is fold to be a minimum size before the insertion. Accuracy evaluation of bending performance showed that the standard deviations were ±3.6 degrees on wired-driven mechanism and ±1.6 degrees on linkage-driven mechanism. Experimental results also demonstrated high repeatability of the mechanisms. In feasibility experiments, ultrasound images in 2D and 3D modes were examined for guiding the manipulator. The 2D images provided wide view and easily viewable display of the balloon inflation. The 3D images provided easily viewable display of bending motion of the arm and the relative position of a phantom. It is possible to operate the manipulator in utero under the ultrasound guidance in 2D and 3D by switching them in each procedural stage. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.