Port Placement for Endoscopic Cardiac Surgery Based on Robot Dexterity Optimization

Accurate and proper placement of ports during robotically-assisted endoscopic surgery is critical to the success of the procedure. Improper placement of ports can lead to robot collisions, the inability to reach the surgical site, the inability to manipulate the tools properly, or collisions between the tools inside the patient’s body. In current practice, port placement methods do not consider the ability of the robot to manoeuvre the tools. Furthermore, there is a lack of guidance on what the position of the robot or the configuration of its arms should be. This paper proposes to choose the best port location and determine the position of the base and arms of the robot such that its performance is maximized. Performance measures developed in the past to optimize robot design and manipulation are used to optimize the placement of ports when using a surgical manipulator for artery dissection during coronary bypass surgery.