Endosnake—a single-arm-multi-port MIRS system with flexible instruments

Abstract

Recently, the use of robotic assisted systems for minimally invasive surgery has increased. This is due to the precise manipulation and miniaturisation of the used equipment. The systems can be divided into multi-port and single-port robots, both with the aim of trauma reduction but with different approaches. On the one hand there are multiple robots, one with each instrument or camera and on the other hand there are small flexible instruments and only one incision in the abdominal wall. In this paper, a novel robotic system is presented that combines in a hybrid way the prior described characteristics and continues the medical aims of trauma reduction and surgeon comfort. One single lightweight robot with three individual configurable flexible instruments is being researched. Additionally, the modular hardware and software architecture is based on the open-source idea and rapid-manufacturing processes.