Abstract
Water Filled Laparoendscopic Surgery (WaFLES) is surgical technique which is performed by filling a liquid into the abdominal cavity. In the WaFLES, Ultrasound imaging is possible because the abdominal cavity is filled by liquid. However, it is hard to carry out surgical treatment because organs are floating in the liquid and the use of retractor is effective to solve this problem. In this study, we developed a elastic retractor for WaFLES which can control organs floating in the liquid without artifacts on ultrasound imaging. Moreover, we proposed a force measurement system using elastic deformation of the retractor. Experimental results showed that the quality of ultrasound images in WaFLES was quite better in use of this elastic retractor than in the use of conventional one and we can estimate the retracting force from the deformation magnitude of the retractor.
