Development of a soft steering mechanism for thoracoscopic surgery

-Functions of adjustable bending motion and rotating camera image-

Abstract

One of the main advantages of surgical endoscopy is that it is minimally invasive. However, since conventional surgical endoscope are rigid, it may damage organs, and it is challenging to reach a target located at the back of an organ. In this research, we have developed a steering mechanism that is flexible and bendable for a surgical endoscope. By applying air pressure, the mechanism can bend in any direction. In this report, to enhance the operability, two functions have been realized: radius of curvature of the mechanism can be varied widely by inserting a thin rod, and the mechanism rotates around its center axis with keeping the tip position in order to rotate the camera image. By the fundamental experiments, we confirmed that the radius of curvature can be changed by the thin rod and camera image can be adjustable.