Vanthournhout L, Herman B, Duisit J, Château F, Szewczyk J, Lengelé B, Raucent B
Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2015 Aug;2015:4926-30. doi: 10.1109/EMBC.2015.7319497.
Microanastomosis is a microsurgical gesture that involves suturing two very small blood vessels together. This gesture is used in many operations such as avulsed member auto-grafting, pediatric surgery, reconstructive surgery - including breast reconstruction by free flap. When vessels have diameters smaller than one millimeter, hand tremors make movements difficult to control. This paper introduces our preliminary steps towards robotic assistance for helping surgeons to perform microanastomosis in optimal conditions, in order to increase gesture quality and reliability even on smaller diameters. A general needs assessment and an experimental motion analysis were performed to define the requirements of the robot. Geometric parameters of the kinematic structure were then optimized to fulfill specific objectives. A prototype of the robot is currently being designed and built in order to providing a sufficient increase in accuracy without prolonging the duration of the procedure.
微血管吻合术是一种显微外科操作，涉及将两根非常小的血管缝合在一起。这种操作在许多手术中都有应用，如断肢自体移植、小儿外科手术、重建手术——包括游离皮瓣乳房重建。当血管直径小于一毫米时，手部震颤会使动作难以控制。本文介绍了我们在机器人辅助方面的初步步骤，以帮助外科医生在最佳条件下进行微血管吻合术，即使在血管直径更小的情况下，也能提高操作质量和可靠性。进行了一般需求评估和实验性运动分析，以确定机器人的要求。然后对运动结构的几何参数进行了优化，以实现特定目标。目前正在设计和制造该机器人的原型，以便在不延长手术时间的情况下充分提高精度。
