Development of a robotic arm for minimally invasive surgery

During minimally invasive surgery (MIS), the movements of instrument handle are scaled and mirrored. Some surgical tasks, such as suturing and knotting, are difficult to finish due to the unnatural hand-eye coordination and limited degree of freedom (DOF). This paper presents a cable-driven arm for robot that can help surgeons in MIS. The robotic arm fulfills the requirements of MIS by the specially designed mechanical structure. Kinematic analysis and workspace analysis are discussed in the paper. The dexterity of the robot is shown by simulation method which can also be used to verify the kinematic equations.