Automated tube insertion on tympanic membrane based on vision-servo and tactile sensing

Otitis Media with Effusion, a common ear disease, occurs in adults and children when the middle ear is infected, resulting in accumulation of fluid in the middle ear space. The conventional treatment is to surgically insert a ventilation tube into the tympanic membrane (TM) to suction out the fluid. An office-based robotic device allowing fast tube insertion has been designed in an earlier work of the authors. However, as the malleus bone attaches to the inner surface of the TM, and this part of the membrane is thus to be avoided during the insertion process. The previous device requires manual manipulation to avoid hitting the malleus bone before tube insertion. To accomplish the procedure automatically, a switching control scheme using intelligent vision-servo and tactile sensing is proposed in this paper. The new device is able to guide the insertion channel to move effectively and intelligently in the ear canal. Pre-clinical tests on the pig ears verify the feasibility and efficacy of the proposed approach.