Abstract
To support multidirectional handstitching in laparoscopic surgery for infants and children, this paper describes the development of an ultrafine multi-DOF forceps. In order to enable an operator to stitch omnidirectionaly in the abdominal cavity, we apply the developed forceps to three wire-actuated DOF; degree of grasping, flexural, and rotational freedom. In addition, the forceps has a diameter of three millimeter for a narrow workspace in pediatric surgery. Activating each wire by motors, we evaluate ranges of movement in each DOF. As a result, grasping and flexural motion achieve from 50 percent to 67 percent in the specifications of ranges of movement. On the other hand, rotational motion shows 25 percent in the achievement ratio. Furthermore, the developed forceps needs improvements in mechanism design for each DOE
