Abstract
In this study, we developed a neurosurgical robot tool as a part of a neurosurgical master slave system. As a prototype, we designed a manipulator, which has 3 degrees of freedom of bending, twisting, and grasping. The mechanical requirements were studied by the actual neurosurgery operation and human hand motions. The manipulator can rotate around a long axis beyond the bending axis using two pulleys placed perpendicularly, and can perform parallel grasping motion, which is similar to actual tweezers using a pantograph mechanism on its tip. A wire tension control mechanism is implemented to the drive unit of the neurosurgical robot tool.
