Locomotion selection and mechanical design for a mobile intra-abdominal adhesion-reliant robot for minimally invasive surgery

Abstract

Miniaturisation of surgical robots combined with bio-inspired adhesive material offer the possibility of a device able to move stably inside the body. In this paper a miniature adhesion-reliant robot is proposed as an alternative to current cumbersome, externally anchored surgical robots. An effective locomotion strategy is selected according to the specific working environment of this application. This environment is the ceiling of the insufflated human abdomen during laparoscopic surgery. Having chosen the most appropriate actuation technology in the market (piezo-electricity), the mechanical design to implement the former locomotion strategy is demonstrated. © 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.