Design and evaluation of a Novel Hybrid soft surgical gripper for safe digital nerve manipulation

Jin Guo, Jin Huat Low, Yoke Rung Wong, Chen Hua Yeow*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Forceps are essential tools for digital nerve manipulation during digital nerve repair surgery. However, surgeons have to operate forceps with extreme caution to prevent detrimental post-operative complications caused by over-gripping force. Their intrinsically safe characteristics have led to the increasing adoption of soft robotics in various biomedical applications. In this paper, a miniaturized hybrid soft surgical gripper is proposed for safe nerve manipulation in digital nerve repair surgery. This new surgical gripper includes a soft inflatable actuator and a gripper shell with a hook-shaped structure. The ability to achieve a compliant grip and safe interaction with digital nerves is provided by the inflated soft pneumatic actuator, while the rigid hook retractor still allows surgeons to scoop up the nerve from its surrounding tissues during surgery. The performance of the proposed surgical gripper was evaluated by the contact/pulling force sensing experiments and deformation measurement experiments. In the cadaver experiments, this new surgical gripper was able to complete the required nerve manipulation within the limited working space. The average deformation of the digital nerve with an average diameter of 1.45 mm gripped by the proposed surgical gripper is less than 0.22 mm. The average deformity is less than 15% of its original diameter.

Original languageEnglish
Article number190
JournalMicromachines
Volume10
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Digital nerve manipulation
  • Soft pneumatic actuator
  • Surgical gripper

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Guo, J., Low, J. H., Wong, Y. R., & Yeow, C. H. (2019). Design and evaluation of a Novel Hybrid soft surgical gripper for safe digital nerve manipulation. Micromachines, 10(3), Article 190. https://doi.org/10.3390/mi10030190