Abstract
The clinical target of this study is intratracheal balloon occlusion from minimally invasive fetal surgery for Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH). The target for the surgery is prenatal temporary tracheal occlusion which enlarges the fetal lungs, and this procedure is promising for severe cases. A balloon is supposed to be inserted for tracheal occlusion using the manipulator. We propose a novel robotic manipulator for intrauterine fetal surgery for tracheal occlusion. In this study, the 3-unit robotic manipulator with ball joint-shaped arthroses and shaft diameter of 2.4 mm using a wire-driven mechanism has been developed to approach the fetal trachea without the damage of fetal tissue. The robotic manipulator is thin in structure and has 7 degrees of freedom to avoid damage to the fragile cells of the fetus.
