A Robotic System for Minimal Access Surgery

A computerized manipulator-assisted method is presented to facilitate the execution of minimal access surgical procedures. The proposed method employs a passive manipulator to assist the surgeon in the three-dimensional spatial location of anatomical features, using general purpose X-ray fluoroscopy or ultrasound imaging equipment with video input/output facilities. The method enables the three-dimensional navigation of surgical tools in correlation with two-dimensional medical images.A system is under development at Imperial College, London, for the application of this method to minimally invasive renal procedures. The system will enable the spatial location of renal calculi and the establishment of percutaneous renal track central axes. The proposed method is compatible with existing urological procedures and imaging equipment and enables the correlation of X-ray and ultrasound imaging modalities.