Robot of the Week

Surgery worm

An aid for heart surgeons

Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) replaces the wide incision used for classic operations with a few small incisions, through which the tips of robot arms are inserted: one holding a camera and others holding surgical tools. These arms are controlled by the surgeons carrying out the operation.

Our surgery worm is an articulated arm designed for heart surgery, more precisely Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG). The articulated snake-like forearm can carry various tools along twisting paths, minimising impact on the patient. This reduces patient trauma, postoperative pain and recovery time

The fixture is a good example of a Micro Electro Mechanical System (MEMS), with force-actuation and shape-control being intrinsic properties.

A prototype of the surgical instrument has been machined in Paris and will be tested in vivo. We are currently developing new task-oriented end-effectors, such as a self-operating sewing rig able to operate with a single thread.

The surgery worm was developed by a collaboration between the PMAR Lab of EURON member 95, the University of Genova, Italy, and the LRP laboratory of the University of Paris 6, France.