The integration of artificial intelligence(AI)into medical robotics has emerged as a cornerstone of modern healthcare,driving transformative advancements in precision,adaptability and patient outcomes.Although computa...The integration of artificial intelligence(AI)into medical robotics has emerged as a cornerstone of modern healthcare,driving transformative advancements in precision,adaptability and patient outcomes.Although computational tools have long supported diagnostic processes,their role is evolving beyond passive assistance to become active collaborators in therapeutic decision-making.In this paradigm,knowledge-driven deep learning systems are redefining possibilities-enabling robots to interpret complex data,adapt to dynamic clinical environments and execute tasks with human-like contextual awareness.展开更多
In recent years,the rising incidence of gastrointestinal(GI)cancer has triggered an urgent need for effective early intervention strategies.Traditional endoscopic techniques often cause patient discomfort,and it is di...In recent years,the rising incidence of gastrointestinal(GI)cancer has triggered an urgent need for effective early intervention strategies.Traditional endoscopic techniques often cause patient discomfort,and it is difficult to navigate deep regions of complex organ structures.This work proposes a kind of bio-inspired magnetic soft robot(BMSR)to address these challenges.The design of the BMSRs is inspired by the rolling motion of the golden wheel spider.Two six-degree-of-freedom(6-DOF)robotic arms are used,where one arm is responsible for real-time manipulation of the BMSRs,and the other is dedicated to monitoring their status.Under the actuation of an external rotating magnetic field,the BMSRs can flexibly climb on inclined surfaces at any angle,involving the inverted surface.Through the powerful output force,the BMSRs can overcome the mobility barrier induced by different human organs,including mucus,folds,and height differences of up to 8 cm.Such an exceptional mobility enables the BMSRs to deliver drugs in the targeted complex GI environment.Moreover,in combination with an endoscope,it provides real-time visual feedback for precise navigation.In vitro animal experiments validate the feasibility of BMSRs,paving a way for their usage in minimally invasive GI treatment.This work advances the potential applications of magnetic soft robots in the biomedical field.展开更多
Microrobotic systems are emerging as transformative technology for minimally invasive medicine,driven by innovations in actuation mechanisms,advanced fabrication paradigms,and multifunctional system integration.This c...Microrobotic systems are emerging as transformative technology for minimally invasive medicine,driven by innovations in actuation mechanisms,advanced fabrication paradigms,and multifunctional system integration.This comprehensive review analyzes the evolution of microrobotic technologies through three critical dimensions:(1)actuation modalities,including magnetic,optical,acoustic,chemical,and biological actuation,with a focus on the synergistic advantages of hybrid actuation strategies in complex internal physiological environments;(2)Fabrication methods cover technolo-gies such as photolithography,microinjection molding,self-assembly,and 3D printing,emphasizing innovative strategies involving multi-technology integration and collaborative manufacturing of bio/non-bio hybrid materials;(3)Internal phys-iological applications involve disease diagnosis,targeted drug delivery,minimally invasive surgery,tissue engineering,and cell manipulation,highlighting the broad prospects of microrobots in precision medicine.Despite remarkable progress,critical challenges remain,including low actuation efficiency,as seen in acoustic systems,limited biocompatibility,exem-plified by the toxicity of hydrogen peroxide in chemical actuation,delayed clinical translation,and other related challenges that must be addressed to advance the field.展开更多
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that there is a lack of healthcare facilities to cope with a pandemic.This has also underscored the immediate need to rapidly develop hospitals capable of dealing with infectious patien...The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that there is a lack of healthcare facilities to cope with a pandemic.This has also underscored the immediate need to rapidly develop hospitals capable of dealing with infectious patients and to rapidly change in supply lines to manufacture the prescription goods(including medicines)that is needed to prevent infection and treatment for infected patients.The COVID-19 has shown the utility of intelligent autonomous robots that assist human efforts to combat a pandemic.The artificial intelligence based on neural networks and deep learning can help to fight COVID-19 in many ways,particularly in the control of autonomous medic robots.Health officials aim to curb the spread of COVID-19 among medical,nursing staff and patients by using intelligent robots.We propose an advanced controller for a service robot to be used in hospitals.This type of robot is deployed to deliver food and dispense medications to individual patients.An autonomous line-follower robot that can sense and follow a line drawn on the floor and drive through the rooms of patients with control of its direction.These criteria were met by using two controllers simultaneously:a deep neural network controller to predict the trajectory of movement and a proportional-integral-derivative(PID)controller for automatic steering and speed control.展开更多
Wireless millirobots engineered to infiltrate intricate vascular networks within living organisms,particularly within constricted and confined spaces,hold immense promise for the future of medical treatments.However,w...Wireless millirobots engineered to infiltrate intricate vascular networks within living organisms,particularly within constricted and confined spaces,hold immense promise for the future of medical treatments.However,with their multifaceted and intricate designs,some robots often grapple with motion and functionality issues when confronted with tight spaces characterized by small cross-sectional dimensions.In this study,drawing inspiration from the high aspect ratio and undulating swimming patterns of snakes,a millimeter-scale,snake-like robot was designed and fabricated via a combination of extrusion-based four-dimensional(4D)printing and magnetic-responsive intelligent functional inks.A sophisticated motion control strategy was also developed,which enables the robots to perform various dynamic movements,such as undulating swimming,precise turns,graceful circular motions,and coordinated cluster movements,under diverse magnetic field variations.As a potential application,the snake robot can navigate and release drugs in a model coronary intervention vessel with tortuous channels and fluid filling.The novel design and promising applications of this snake robot are invaluable tools in future medical surgeries and interventions.展开更多
Soft-tissue motion introduces significant challenges in robotic teleoperation,especially in medical scenarios where precise target tracking is critical.Latency across sensing,computation,and actuation chains leads to ...Soft-tissue motion introduces significant challenges in robotic teleoperation,especially in medical scenarios where precise target tracking is critical.Latency across sensing,computation,and actuation chains leads to degraded tracking performance,particularly around high-acceleration segments and trajectory inflection points.This study investigates machine learning-based predictive compensation for latency mitigation in soft-tissue tracking.Three models—autoregressive(AR),long short-term memory(LSTM),and temporal convolutional network(TCN)—were implemented and evaluated on both synthetic and real datasets.By aligning the prediction horizon with the end-to-end system delay,we demonstrate that prediction-based compensation significantly reduces tracking errors.Among the models,TCN achieved superior robustness and accuracy on complex motion patterns,particularly in multi-step prediction tasks,and exhibited better latency–horizon compatibility.The results suggest that TCN is a promising candidate for real-time latency compensation in teleoperated robotic systems involving dynamic soft-tissue interaction.展开更多
A robotic endoscope is mainly composed of a tactile array sensor, soft mobilemechanism for earthworm locomotion and turning mechanism based on shape memory effect. The tactilearray sensor can provide the information a...A robotic endoscope is mainly composed of a tactile array sensor, soft mobilemechanism for earthworm locomotion and turning mechanism based on shape memory effect. The tactilearray sensor can provide the information about magnitude and orientation of interacting forcesbetween the robotic endoscope and the wall of gastrointestinal tracts. The soft mobile mechanismcontacts gastrointestinal tracts with air-in inflatable balloons, so it has better soft andnon-invasive properties. The turning mechanism can be actively bent by shape memory alloy componentsand conform to the complex shape of gastrointestinal tracts. The working principle of roboticendoscope is dealt with.展开更多
Robotic intra-operative ultrasound has the potential to improve the conventional practice of diagnosis and procedure guidance that are currently performed manually.Working towards automatic or semi-automatic ultrasoun...Robotic intra-operative ultrasound has the potential to improve the conventional practice of diagnosis and procedure guidance that are currently performed manually.Working towards automatic or semi-automatic ultrasound,being able to define ultrasound views and the corresponding probe poses via intelligent approaches become crucial.Based on the concept of parallel system which incorporates the ingredients of artificial systems,computational experiments,and parallel execution,this paper utilized a recent developed robotic trans-esophageal ultrasound system as the study object to explore the method for developing the corresponding virtual environments and present the potential applications of such systems.The proposed virtual system includes the use of 3 D slicer as the main workspace and graphic user interface(GUI),Matlab engine to provide robotic control algorithms and customized functions,and PLUS(Public software Library for Ultra Sound imaging research)toolkit to generate simulated ultrasound images.Detailed implementation methods were presented and the proposed features of the system were explained.Based on this virtual system,example uses and case studies were presented to demonstrate its capabilities when used together with the physical TEE robot.This includes standard view definition and customized view optimization for pre-planning and navigation,as well as robotic control algorithm evaluations to facilitate real-time automatic probe pose adjustments.To conclude,the proposed virtual system would be a powerful tool to facilitate the further developments and clinical uses of the robotic intra-operative ultrasound systems.展开更多
A prototype of nurse robot system serving in infectious disease wards is developed by analyzing the systems requirement. Firstly, the type synthesis and dimension synthesis for optimizing the workspace are presented. ...A prototype of nurse robot system serving in infectious disease wards is developed by analyzing the systems requirement. Firstly, the type synthesis and dimension synthesis for optimizing the workspace are presented. Secondly, the tele-control system based on velocity control mode is introduced, and tele-control program is written. Finally, the imitation of position workspace and experiment of transforming objects from buffer area to isolation area are carried out.展开更多
The coronavirus global pandemic has spread faster and more severely than experts had anticipated.While this has presented itself as a great challenge,researchers worldwide have shown ingenuity and dexterity in adaptin...The coronavirus global pandemic has spread faster and more severely than experts had anticipated.While this has presented itself as a great challenge,researchers worldwide have shown ingenuity and dexterity in adapting technology and devising new strategies to combat this pandemic.However,implementing these strategies alone impedes the nature of everyone′s daily life.Hence,an intersection between these strategies and the technological advantages of robotics,artificial intelligence,and autonomous systems is essential for near-to-normal operation.In this review paper,different applications of robotic systems,various aspects of modern technologies,including medical imaging,telemedicine,and supply chains,have been covered with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic.Furthermore,concerns over user′s data privacy,job losses,and legal aspects of the implementation of robotics are also been discussed.展开更多
The most widely adopted method for diagnosing respiratory infectious diseases is to conduct polymerase chain reaction(PCR)assays on patients’respiratory specimens,which are collected through either nasal or oropharyn...The most widely adopted method for diagnosing respiratory infectious diseases is to conduct polymerase chain reaction(PCR)assays on patients’respiratory specimens,which are collected through either nasal or oropharyngeal swabs.The manual swab sampling process poses a high risk to the examiner and may cause false-negative results owing to improper sampling.In this paper,we propose a pneumatically actuated soft end-effector specifically designed to achieve all of the tasks involved in swab sampling.The soft end-effector utilizes circumferential instability to ensure grasping stability,and exhibits several key properties,including high load-to-weight ratio,error tolerance,and variable swab-tip stiffness,leading to successful automatic robotic oropharyngeal swab sampling,from loosening and tightening the transport medium tube cap,holding the swab,and conducting sampling,to snapping off the swab tail and sterilizing itself.Using an industrial collaborative robotic arm,we integrated the soft end-effector,force sensor,camera,lights,and remote-control stick,and developed a robotic oropharyngeal swab sampling system.Using this swab sampling system,we conducted oropharyngeal swab-sampling tests on 20 volunteers.Our Digital PCR assay results(RNase P RNA gene absolute copy numbers for the samples)revealed that our system successfully collected sufficient numbers of cells from the pharyngeal wall for respiratory disease diagnosis.In summary,we have developed a pharyngeal swab-sampling system based on an“enveloping”soft actuator,studied the sampling process,and imple-mented whole-process robotic oropharyngeal swab-sampling.展开更多
This paper presents an automatic compensation algorithm for needle tip displacement in order to keep the needle tip always fixed at the skin entry point in the process of needle orientation in robot-assisted percutane...This paper presents an automatic compensation algorithm for needle tip displacement in order to keep the needle tip always fixed at the skin entry point in the process of needle orientation in robot-assisted percutaneous surgery. The algorithm, based on a two-degree-of-freedom （2-DOF） robot wrist （not the mechanically constrained remote center of motion （RCM） mechanism） and a 3-DOF robot ann, firstly calculates the needle tip displacement caused by rotational motion of robot wrist in the arm coordinate frame using the robotic forward kinematics, and then inversely compensates for the needle tip displace- ment by real-time Cartesian motion of robot arm. The algorithm achieves the function of the RCM and eliminates many mechanical and virtual constraints caused by the RCM mechanism. Experimental result demonstrates that the needle tip displacement is within 1 inm in the process of needle orientation.展开更多
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women. A strong treatment candidate is high- intensity focused ultrasound （HIFU）, a non-invasive therapeutic method that has already demonstrated its promise. T...Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women. A strong treatment candidate is high- intensity focused ultrasound （HIFU）, a non-invasive therapeutic method that has already demonstrated its promise. To improve the precision and lower the cost of HIFU treatment, our group has developed an ultrasound （US）-guided, five-degree-of-freedom （DOF）, robot-assisted HIFU system. We constructed a fully functional prototype enabling easy three-dimensional （3D） US image reconstruction, target seg-mentation, treatment path generation, and automatic HIFU irradiation. The position was calibrated using a wire phantom and the coagulated area was assessed on heterogeneous tissue phantoms. Under the US guidance, the centroids of the HIFU-ahlated area deviated by less than 2 mm from the planned treatment region. The overshoot around the planned region was well below the tolerance of clinical usage. Our system is considered to he sufficiently accurate for breast cancer treatment.展开更多
Objectives:The use of current robotic systems to assist in percutaneous coronary intervention(PCI)fundamentally differs from performing conventional PCI.To overcome this problem,we developed a novel master-slave robot...Objectives:The use of current robotic systems to assist in percutaneous coronary intervention(PCI)fundamentally differs from performing conventional PCI.To overcome this problem,we developed a novel master-slave robotic control system to assist in PCI,and evaluated its safety and feasibility in the delivery and manipulation of coronary guidewires in vitro and in vivo.Methods:The novel robotic assist PCI system is composed of three parts:1)a master actuator,which imitates the traditional torque used by surgeons in conventional PCI,2)a slave actuator,including a guidewire delivery system and force monitoring equipment,and 3)a local area network based communication system.Results:The experiment was performed in six pigs.Both robotic and manual control completed the operation with no device-or procedure-associated complications.An experienced interventional cardiologist who was afirst-time user of the novel robotic PCI system was able to advance the guidewire into a distal branch of a coronary artery within a similar time to that required with the manual procedure.Conclusion:This early in vivo experiment with the novel robotic assisted PCI control system demonstrated that its feasibility,safety,and procedural effectiveness are comparable to those of manual operation.The novel robotic-assisted PCI control system required significantly less time to learn than other currently available systems.展开更多
Since ancient times, man has been concerned to create an artificial structure similar to itself. This concern has remained constant attention and creative thinkers most profound since antiquity until today, it is of g...Since ancient times, man has been concerned to create an artificial structure similar to itself. This concern has remained constant attention and creative thinkers most profound since antiquity until today, it is of greatest interest. This article aims to highlight the most significant moments of the evolution from mechanical creatures mythical or real, from antiquity to the present humanoid robots. There are thus shown the most significant variants humanoid imagined or realized since Talos, described in Greek mythology, continuing with mechanical machines during late Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire and then the Renaissance of the post-renaissance, then they are shown the main achievements of the industrialization period from the nineteenth to the early part of the twentieth century, then to the most important made in the last decades of the twentieth century and early twenty-first century. The work is important to stimulate concerns academic theorists and practice but also in the industrial practice specializing in robotics and more generally in mechatronics. It also opens the prospect of defining the concept of an artificial humanoid useful both for human prosthesis with certain disabilities, and a humanoid robot performance.展开更多
The advancement and development of medical surgical robots have provided new technological support for brain surgery and neurosurgical procedures,improving the reliability of highly complex and precise surgeries.In tu...The advancement and development of medical surgical robots have provided new technological support for brain surgery and neurosurgical procedures,improving the reliability of highly complex and precise surgeries.In turn,this urges the design and development of novel surgical robots to possess higher precision,stability,and enhanced motion capabilities.In response to this practical demand,this paper introduces a macro-micro integrated medical brain surgery robot system based on the concept of modular PMs(parallel mechanisms),which have a total of 13 active DOFs(degrees of freedom).This system divides the motion process of brain surgery into a large-scale macro-motion space and a small-scale high-precision motion space for design and planning control.The introduction of the design concept that combines multiple modular parallel sub-mechanisms has brought a significant level of decoupling characteristics to the mechanism itself.A comprehensive introduction and analysis of the surgical robot are provided,covering aspects such as design,kinematics,motion planning,and performance indicators.To address the pose allocation and coordination of motion between the macro platform and the micro platform,a pose allocation algorithm based on the decoupling and non-decoupling characteristics in various dimensions of the macro-micro platform is proposed.The designed measurement experiments have demonstrated that the repeatability in positioning accuracy of the macro and micro platform reaches the level of micron and submicron respectively.Practical experiments of motion control and simulated brain electrode implantation validate the excellent performance and stability of the entire surgical robot system.This research contributes innovative insights to the development of medical surgical robot systems,particularly in the domain of mechanism design.展开更多
With the increasingly more extensive application of the medical surgical robot in the clinic,higher requirements have been put forward for medical robots.The bone-attached robot,a popular orthopedic robot in recent ye...With the increasingly more extensive application of the medical surgical robot in the clinic,higher requirements have been put forward for medical robots.The bone-attached robot,a popular orthopedic robot in recent years,has a tendency of miniaturization and refinement.Thus,a bone-attached parallel manipulator(PM)based on 6-UCU(universalcylindrical-universal)configuration is proposed,which is characterized by small volume,compact structure,high precision and six-dimensional force feedback.To optimize the structure and make it more compact,the workspace of the 6-UCU PM is analyzed based on the analysis of three kinds of constraint,and workspace model is established through spherical coordinate search method.This study also analyzes the influence of structural parameters on workspace,which may contribute to improving the efficiency of design and ensuring small-sized robots possess relatively large workspace.Moreover,to improve the motion accuracy,an error modeling method is developed based on the structure of 6-UCU PMs.According to this established error model,the output pose error curves are drawn using MATLAB software when the structure parameters change,and the influence of the structure and pose parameters change on the output pose error of PMs is analyzed.The proposed research provides the instruction to design and analysis of small PMs such as bone-attached robots.展开更多
Minimally invasive transcatheter embolization is a widely utilized in interventional radiology to occlude blood vessels for treating a range of diseases and vascular injuries.Various embolic agents,such as metallic co...Minimally invasive transcatheter embolization is a widely utilized in interventional radiology to occlude blood vessels for treating a range of diseases and vascular injuries.Various embolic agents,such as metallic coils,microspheres,and liquidbased agents,are delivered to the target site to effectively block blood flow and achieve vessel occlusion.However,precise and selective deployment of these agents into target lesions remains a challenge due to the limited steerability and maneuverability of current catheter systems.This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent advancements in embolic agents and delivery devices,with a particular focus on emerging robot-assisted embolization technologies.It also discusses the key challenges associated with embolic materials and explores future trends shaping the field.展开更多
Precision motion actuation is a key technology for miniature medical robotics in a variety of applications,such as optical fibre-based diagnosis and intervention tools.Conventional inductive actuation mechanisms are c...Precision motion actuation is a key technology for miniature medical robotics in a variety of applications,such as optical fibre-based diagnosis and intervention tools.Conventional inductive actuation mechanisms are challenging to scale down.Piezoelectric materials offer a scalable,precise,fast and high-force method but at a limited displacement range.In previous work,the combination of piezoelectric beams(benders)with compliant motion translation structures has been shown to be promising for robotic micro-actuation.In this paper,this approach is employed to implement a three degrees of freedom delta robot,suitable for catheter,diagnostic optical fibre and microsurgery tool manipulation.The fabrication process combines additive manufacturing,origami structuring and piezoelectric beam assembly.Closed-loop control is implemented using a new,on-board visual feedback concept.In contrast to typical optical motion systems,the fully internal visual feedback offers system compactness with precise and reliable camera-to-marker geometry definition.By employment of this method,a delta robot with motion accuracy of 7.5μm,resolution of 10μm and 8.1μm precision is demonstrated.The robot is shown to follow a range of programmable trajectories under these specifications,and to compensate for externally applied forces typically expected during microsurgery manipulations.This is the first,to our knowledge,demonstration of micromotion control using internal visual feedback,and it opens up the way for high-resolution compact microrobots.展开更多
A number of developed countries are rapidly turning into super-aged societies.Consequently,the demand for reduced surgical invasiveness and enhanced efficiency in the medical field has increased due to the need to red...A number of developed countries are rapidly turning into super-aged societies.Consequently,the demand for reduced surgical invasiveness and enhanced efficiency in the medical field has increased due to the need to reduce the physical burden on older patients and shorten their recovery period.Intelligent surgical robot systems offer high precision,high safety,and reduced invasiveness.This paper presents a review of current intelligent surgical robot systems.The history of robots and three types of intelligent surgical robots are discussed.The problems with current surgical robot systems are then analyzed.Several aspects that should be considered in designing new surgical systems are discussed in detail.The paper ends with a summary of the work and a discussion of future prospects for surgical robot development.展开更多
文摘The integration of artificial intelligence(AI)into medical robotics has emerged as a cornerstone of modern healthcare,driving transformative advancements in precision,adaptability and patient outcomes.Although computational tools have long supported diagnostic processes,their role is evolving beyond passive assistance to become active collaborators in therapeutic decision-making.In this paradigm,knowledge-driven deep learning systems are redefining possibilities-enabling robots to interpret complex data,adapt to dynamic clinical environments and execute tasks with human-like contextual awareness.
基金supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under grant 52175556the Macao Science and Technology Development Fund under grant 0004/2022/AKP,0102/2022/A2,and 0078/2023/RIB3+1 种基金the Research Committee of the University of Macao under grants MYRG2022-00068-FST and MYRG-CRG202200004-FST-ICIthe Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation under grant 2023A1515011178。
文摘In recent years,the rising incidence of gastrointestinal(GI)cancer has triggered an urgent need for effective early intervention strategies.Traditional endoscopic techniques often cause patient discomfort,and it is difficult to navigate deep regions of complex organ structures.This work proposes a kind of bio-inspired magnetic soft robot(BMSR)to address these challenges.The design of the BMSRs is inspired by the rolling motion of the golden wheel spider.Two six-degree-of-freedom(6-DOF)robotic arms are used,where one arm is responsible for real-time manipulation of the BMSRs,and the other is dedicated to monitoring their status.Under the actuation of an external rotating magnetic field,the BMSRs can flexibly climb on inclined surfaces at any angle,involving the inverted surface.Through the powerful output force,the BMSRs can overcome the mobility barrier induced by different human organs,including mucus,folds,and height differences of up to 8 cm.Such an exceptional mobility enables the BMSRs to deliver drugs in the targeted complex GI environment.Moreover,in combination with an endoscope,it provides real-time visual feedback for precise navigation.In vitro animal experiments validate the feasibility of BMSRs,paving a way for their usage in minimally invasive GI treatment.This work advances the potential applications of magnetic soft robots in the biomedical field.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.61903157)the Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Robotics(Grand No.2024-O08).
文摘Microrobotic systems are emerging as transformative technology for minimally invasive medicine,driven by innovations in actuation mechanisms,advanced fabrication paradigms,and multifunctional system integration.This comprehensive review analyzes the evolution of microrobotic technologies through three critical dimensions:(1)actuation modalities,including magnetic,optical,acoustic,chemical,and biological actuation,with a focus on the synergistic advantages of hybrid actuation strategies in complex internal physiological environments;(2)Fabrication methods cover technolo-gies such as photolithography,microinjection molding,self-assembly,and 3D printing,emphasizing innovative strategies involving multi-technology integration and collaborative manufacturing of bio/non-bio hybrid materials;(3)Internal phys-iological applications involve disease diagnosis,targeted drug delivery,minimally invasive surgery,tissue engineering,and cell manipulation,highlighting the broad prospects of microrobots in precision medicine.Despite remarkable progress,critical challenges remain,including low actuation efficiency,as seen in acoustic systems,limited biocompatibility,exem-plified by the toxicity of hydrogen peroxide in chemical actuation,delayed clinical translation,and other related challenges that must be addressed to advance the field.
基金the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Saud University for its funding of this research through the Research Group No.RG-1439/007.
文摘The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that there is a lack of healthcare facilities to cope with a pandemic.This has also underscored the immediate need to rapidly develop hospitals capable of dealing with infectious patients and to rapidly change in supply lines to manufacture the prescription goods(including medicines)that is needed to prevent infection and treatment for infected patients.The COVID-19 has shown the utility of intelligent autonomous robots that assist human efforts to combat a pandemic.The artificial intelligence based on neural networks and deep learning can help to fight COVID-19 in many ways,particularly in the control of autonomous medic robots.Health officials aim to curb the spread of COVID-19 among medical,nursing staff and patients by using intelligent robots.We propose an advanced controller for a service robot to be used in hospitals.This type of robot is deployed to deliver food and dispense medications to individual patients.An autonomous line-follower robot that can sense and follow a line drawn on the floor and drive through the rooms of patients with control of its direction.These criteria were met by using two controllers simultaneously:a deep neural network controller to predict the trajectory of movement and a proportional-integral-derivative(PID)controller for automatic steering and speed control.
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.52105421 and 52373050)the Guangdong Provincial Natural Science Foundation,China(No.2022A1515011621)+1 种基金the Science and Technology Projects in Guangzhou,China(Nos.202102080330 and 2024A04J6446)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities,Sun Yat-sen University(No.22qntd0101).
文摘Wireless millirobots engineered to infiltrate intricate vascular networks within living organisms,particularly within constricted and confined spaces,hold immense promise for the future of medical treatments.However,with their multifaceted and intricate designs,some robots often grapple with motion and functionality issues when confronted with tight spaces characterized by small cross-sectional dimensions.In this study,drawing inspiration from the high aspect ratio and undulating swimming patterns of snakes,a millimeter-scale,snake-like robot was designed and fabricated via a combination of extrusion-based four-dimensional(4D)printing and magnetic-responsive intelligent functional inks.A sophisticated motion control strategy was also developed,which enables the robots to perform various dynamic movements,such as undulating swimming,precise turns,graceful circular motions,and coordinated cluster movements,under diverse magnetic field variations.As a potential application,the snake robot can navigate and release drugs in a model coronary intervention vessel with tortuous channels and fluid filling.The novel design and promising applications of this snake robot are invaluable tools in future medical surgeries and interventions.
基金Support by Sichuan Science and Technology Program[2023YFSY0026,2023YFH0004]Guangzhou Huashang University[2024HSZD01,HS2023JYSZH01].
文摘Soft-tissue motion introduces significant challenges in robotic teleoperation,especially in medical scenarios where precise target tracking is critical.Latency across sensing,computation,and actuation chains leads to degraded tracking performance,particularly around high-acceleration segments and trajectory inflection points.This study investigates machine learning-based predictive compensation for latency mitigation in soft-tissue tracking.Three models—autoregressive(AR),long short-term memory(LSTM),and temporal convolutional network(TCN)—were implemented and evaluated on both synthetic and real datasets.By aligning the prediction horizon with the end-to-end system delay,we demonstrate that prediction-based compensation significantly reduces tracking errors.Among the models,TCN achieved superior robustness and accuracy on complex motion patterns,particularly in multi-step prediction tasks,and exhibited better latency–horizon compatibility.The results suggest that TCN is a promising candidate for real-time latency compensation in teleoperated robotic systems involving dynamic soft-tissue interaction.
基金This project is supported by Sn angnai Eaucation Committee.
文摘A robotic endoscope is mainly composed of a tactile array sensor, soft mobilemechanism for earthworm locomotion and turning mechanism based on shape memory effect. The tactilearray sensor can provide the information about magnitude and orientation of interacting forcesbetween the robotic endoscope and the wall of gastrointestinal tracts. The soft mobile mechanismcontacts gastrointestinal tracts with air-in inflatable balloons, so it has better soft andnon-invasive properties. The turning mechanism can be actively bent by shape memory alloy componentsand conform to the complex shape of gastrointestinal tracts. The working principle of roboticendoscope is dealt with.
基金supported in part by the Key Research and Development Program2020 of Guangzhou(202007050002)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(62003339,U1811463)the Intel Collaborative Research Institute for Intelligent and Automated Connected Vehicles(“ICRI-IACV”)。
文摘Robotic intra-operative ultrasound has the potential to improve the conventional practice of diagnosis and procedure guidance that are currently performed manually.Working towards automatic or semi-automatic ultrasound,being able to define ultrasound views and the corresponding probe poses via intelligent approaches become crucial.Based on the concept of parallel system which incorporates the ingredients of artificial systems,computational experiments,and parallel execution,this paper utilized a recent developed robotic trans-esophageal ultrasound system as the study object to explore the method for developing the corresponding virtual environments and present the potential applications of such systems.The proposed virtual system includes the use of 3 D slicer as the main workspace and graphic user interface(GUI),Matlab engine to provide robotic control algorithms and customized functions,and PLUS(Public software Library for Ultra Sound imaging research)toolkit to generate simulated ultrasound images.Detailed implementation methods were presented and the proposed features of the system were explained.Based on this virtual system,example uses and case studies were presented to demonstrate its capabilities when used together with the physical TEE robot.This includes standard view definition and customized view optimization for pre-planning and navigation,as well as robotic control algorithm evaluations to facilitate real-time automatic probe pose adjustments.To conclude,the proposed virtual system would be a powerful tool to facilitate the further developments and clinical uses of the robotic intra-operative ultrasound systems.
文摘A prototype of nurse robot system serving in infectious disease wards is developed by analyzing the systems requirement. Firstly, the type synthesis and dimension synthesis for optimizing the workspace are presented. Secondly, the tele-control system based on velocity control mode is introduced, and tele-control program is written. Finally, the imitation of position workspace and experiment of transforming objects from buffer area to isolation area are carried out.
文摘The coronavirus global pandemic has spread faster and more severely than experts had anticipated.While this has presented itself as a great challenge,researchers worldwide have shown ingenuity and dexterity in adapting technology and devising new strategies to combat this pandemic.However,implementing these strategies alone impedes the nature of everyone′s daily life.Hence,an intersection between these strategies and the technological advantages of robotics,artificial intelligence,and autonomous systems is essential for near-to-normal operation.In this review paper,different applications of robotic systems,various aspects of modern technologies,including medical imaging,telemedicine,and supply chains,have been covered with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic.Furthermore,concerns over user′s data privacy,job losses,and legal aspects of the implementation of robotics are also been discussed.
基金Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.52222502,92048302,and 51975306)Research Project of State Key Laboratory of Mechanical System and Vibration of China(Grant No.MSV201904)Emergency Research Project for COVID-19 from Institute for Precision Medicine of Tsinghua University of China.
文摘The most widely adopted method for diagnosing respiratory infectious diseases is to conduct polymerase chain reaction(PCR)assays on patients’respiratory specimens,which are collected through either nasal or oropharyngeal swabs.The manual swab sampling process poses a high risk to the examiner and may cause false-negative results owing to improper sampling.In this paper,we propose a pneumatically actuated soft end-effector specifically designed to achieve all of the tasks involved in swab sampling.The soft end-effector utilizes circumferential instability to ensure grasping stability,and exhibits several key properties,including high load-to-weight ratio,error tolerance,and variable swab-tip stiffness,leading to successful automatic robotic oropharyngeal swab sampling,from loosening and tightening the transport medium tube cap,holding the swab,and conducting sampling,to snapping off the swab tail and sterilizing itself.Using an industrial collaborative robotic arm,we integrated the soft end-effector,force sensor,camera,lights,and remote-control stick,and developed a robotic oropharyngeal swab sampling system.Using this swab sampling system,we conducted oropharyngeal swab-sampling tests on 20 volunteers.Our Digital PCR assay results(RNase P RNA gene absolute copy numbers for the samples)revealed that our system successfully collected sufficient numbers of cells from the pharyngeal wall for respiratory disease diagnosis.In summary,we have developed a pharyngeal swab-sampling system based on an“enveloping”soft actuator,studied the sampling process,and imple-mented whole-process robotic oropharyngeal swab-sampling.
文摘This paper presents an automatic compensation algorithm for needle tip displacement in order to keep the needle tip always fixed at the skin entry point in the process of needle orientation in robot-assisted percutaneous surgery. The algorithm, based on a two-degree-of-freedom （2-DOF） robot wrist （not the mechanically constrained remote center of motion （RCM） mechanism） and a 3-DOF robot ann, firstly calculates the needle tip displacement caused by rotational motion of robot wrist in the arm coordinate frame using the robotic forward kinematics, and then inversely compensates for the needle tip displace- ment by real-time Cartesian motion of robot arm. The algorithm achieves the function of the RCM and eliminates many mechanical and virtual constraints caused by the RCM mechanism. Experimental result demonstrates that the needle tip displacement is within 1 inm in the process of needle orientation.
基金partially supported by the Translational Systems Biology and Medicine Initiative (TSBMI) from the Ministry of Education Culture+2 种基金 Sports Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japanthe China Scholarship Council and Otsuka Toshimi Scholarship Foundation
文摘Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women. A strong treatment candidate is high- intensity focused ultrasound （HIFU）, a non-invasive therapeutic method that has already demonstrated its promise. To improve the precision and lower the cost of HIFU treatment, our group has developed an ultrasound （US）-guided, five-degree-of-freedom （DOF）, robot-assisted HIFU system. We constructed a fully functional prototype enabling easy three-dimensional （3D） US image reconstruction, target seg-mentation, treatment path generation, and automatic HIFU irradiation. The position was calibrated using a wire phantom and the coagulated area was assessed on heterogeneous tissue phantoms. Under the US guidance, the centroids of the HIFU-ahlated area deviated by less than 2 mm from the planned treatment region. The overshoot around the planned region was well below the tolerance of clinical usage. Our system is considered to he sufficiently accurate for breast cancer treatment.
基金supported by the Capital Health Research and Development of Special(2020-4-2243)Beijing Municipal Administration of Hospitals Incubating Program(No.PX2021039)+1 种基金Beijing Hospitals Authority Ascent Plan(No.DFL20190902)Beijing Hospitals Authority Clinical Medicine Development of Special Funding Support(No.ZYLX201831).
文摘Objectives:The use of current robotic systems to assist in percutaneous coronary intervention(PCI)fundamentally differs from performing conventional PCI.To overcome this problem,we developed a novel master-slave robotic control system to assist in PCI,and evaluated its safety and feasibility in the delivery and manipulation of coronary guidewires in vitro and in vivo.Methods:The novel robotic assist PCI system is composed of three parts:1)a master actuator,which imitates the traditional torque used by surgeons in conventional PCI,2)a slave actuator,including a guidewire delivery system and force monitoring equipment,and 3)a local area network based communication system.Results:The experiment was performed in six pigs.Both robotic and manual control completed the operation with no device-or procedure-associated complications.An experienced interventional cardiologist who was afirst-time user of the novel robotic PCI system was able to advance the guidewire into a distal branch of a coronary artery within a similar time to that required with the manual procedure.Conclusion:This early in vivo experiment with the novel robotic assisted PCI control system demonstrated that its feasibility,safety,and procedural effectiveness are comparable to those of manual operation.The novel robotic-assisted PCI control system required significantly less time to learn than other currently available systems.
文摘Since ancient times, man has been concerned to create an artificial structure similar to itself. This concern has remained constant attention and creative thinkers most profound since antiquity until today, it is of greatest interest. This article aims to highlight the most significant moments of the evolution from mechanical creatures mythical or real, from antiquity to the present humanoid robots. There are thus shown the most significant variants humanoid imagined or realized since Talos, described in Greek mythology, continuing with mechanical machines during late Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire and then the Renaissance of the post-renaissance, then they are shown the main achievements of the industrialization period from the nineteenth to the early part of the twentieth century, then to the most important made in the last decades of the twentieth century and early twenty-first century. The work is important to stimulate concerns academic theorists and practice but also in the industrial practice specializing in robotics and more generally in mechatronics. It also opens the prospect of defining the concept of an artificial humanoid useful both for human prosthesis with certain disabilities, and a humanoid robot performance.
基金Supported by Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Major Project of China(Grant No.2021SHZDZX).
文摘The advancement and development of medical surgical robots have provided new technological support for brain surgery and neurosurgical procedures,improving the reliability of highly complex and precise surgeries.In turn,this urges the design and development of novel surgical robots to possess higher precision,stability,and enhanced motion capabilities.In response to this practical demand,this paper introduces a macro-micro integrated medical brain surgery robot system based on the concept of modular PMs(parallel mechanisms),which have a total of 13 active DOFs(degrees of freedom).This system divides the motion process of brain surgery into a large-scale macro-motion space and a small-scale high-precision motion space for design and planning control.The introduction of the design concept that combines multiple modular parallel sub-mechanisms has brought a significant level of decoupling characteristics to the mechanism itself.A comprehensive introduction and analysis of the surgical robot are provided,covering aspects such as design,kinematics,motion planning,and performance indicators.To address the pose allocation and coordination of motion between the macro platform and the micro platform,a pose allocation algorithm based on the decoupling and non-decoupling characteristics in various dimensions of the macro-micro platform is proposed.The designed measurement experiments have demonstrated that the repeatability in positioning accuracy of the macro and micro platform reaches the level of micron and submicron respectively.Practical experiments of motion control and simulated brain electrode implantation validate the excellent performance and stability of the entire surgical robot system.This research contributes innovative insights to the development of medical surgical robot systems,particularly in the domain of mechanism design.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.51775052,52175019)Beijing Municipal Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.21C10109)Beijing Municipal Key Laboratory of Space-ground Interconnection and Convergence of China.
文摘With the increasingly more extensive application of the medical surgical robot in the clinic,higher requirements have been put forward for medical robots.The bone-attached robot,a popular orthopedic robot in recent years,has a tendency of miniaturization and refinement.Thus,a bone-attached parallel manipulator(PM)based on 6-UCU(universalcylindrical-universal)configuration is proposed,which is characterized by small volume,compact structure,high precision and six-dimensional force feedback.To optimize the structure and make it more compact,the workspace of the 6-UCU PM is analyzed based on the analysis of three kinds of constraint,and workspace model is established through spherical coordinate search method.This study also analyzes the influence of structural parameters on workspace,which may contribute to improving the efficiency of design and ensuring small-sized robots possess relatively large workspace.Moreover,to improve the motion accuracy,an error modeling method is developed based on the structure of 6-UCU PMs.According to this established error model,the output pose error curves are drawn using MATLAB software when the structure parameters change,and the influence of the structure and pose parameters change on the output pose error of PMs is analyzed.The proposed research provides the instruction to design and analysis of small PMs such as bone-attached robots.
基金supported by the Research Impact Fund(project no.R4015-21)the Research Fellow Scheme(project no.RFS2122-4S03)+1 种基金the Strategic Topics Grant(project no.STG1/E–401/23-N)the General Research Fund(project no.14204324)from the Hong Kong Research Grants Council(RGC).
文摘Minimally invasive transcatheter embolization is a widely utilized in interventional radiology to occlude blood vessels for treating a range of diseases and vascular injuries.Various embolic agents,such as metallic coils,microspheres,and liquidbased agents,are delivered to the target site to effectively block blood flow and achieve vessel occlusion.However,precise and selective deployment of these agents into target lesions remains a challenge due to the limited steerability and maneuverability of current catheter systems.This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent advancements in embolic agents and delivery devices,with a particular focus on emerging robot-assisted embolization technologies.It also discusses the key challenges associated with embolic materials and explores future trends shaping the field.
基金financially supported in part by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council(EPSRC),United Kingdom(EP/P012779,Micro-Robotics for Surgery).
文摘Precision motion actuation is a key technology for miniature medical robotics in a variety of applications,such as optical fibre-based diagnosis and intervention tools.Conventional inductive actuation mechanisms are challenging to scale down.Piezoelectric materials offer a scalable,precise,fast and high-force method but at a limited displacement range.In previous work,the combination of piezoelectric beams(benders)with compliant motion translation structures has been shown to be promising for robotic micro-actuation.In this paper,this approach is employed to implement a three degrees of freedom delta robot,suitable for catheter,diagnostic optical fibre and microsurgery tool manipulation.The fabrication process combines additive manufacturing,origami structuring and piezoelectric beam assembly.Closed-loop control is implemented using a new,on-board visual feedback concept.In contrast to typical optical motion systems,the fully internal visual feedback offers system compactness with precise and reliable camera-to-marker geometry definition.By employment of this method,a delta robot with motion accuracy of 7.5μm,resolution of 10μm and 8.1μm precision is demonstrated.The robot is shown to follow a range of programmable trajectories under these specifications,and to compensate for externally applied forces typically expected during microsurgery manipulations.This is the first,to our knowledge,demonstration of micromotion control using internal visual feedback,and it opens up the way for high-resolution compact microrobots.
基金This work was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and Shenzhen Robot Research Program(No.U1613221)in part by the National Key Research and Development Program(No.2017YFC0110500)+1 种基金in part by the Global Centers of Excellence Program“Global Robot Academia,”Waseda University,Tokyo,Japanand in part by the Program for Leading Graduate Schools,“Graduate Program for Embodiment Informatics”of the Ministry of Education,Culture,Sports,Science and Technology。
文摘A number of developed countries are rapidly turning into super-aged societies.Consequently,the demand for reduced surgical invasiveness and enhanced efficiency in the medical field has increased due to the need to reduce the physical burden on older patients and shorten their recovery period.Intelligent surgical robot systems offer high precision,high safety,and reduced invasiveness.This paper presents a review of current intelligent surgical robot systems.The history of robots and three types of intelligent surgical robots are discussed.The problems with current surgical robot systems are then analyzed.Several aspects that should be considered in designing new surgical systems are discussed in detail.The paper ends with a summary of the work and a discussion of future prospects for surgical robot development.
