Soft tissue characterisation using a force feedback-enabled instrument for robotic assisted minimally invasive surgery systems

An automated laparoscopic instrument capable of non-invasive measurement of tip/tissue interaction forces for direct application in robotic assisted minimally invasive surgery systems is introduced in this chapter. It has the capability to measure normal grasping forces as well as lateral interaction forces without any sensor mounted on the tip jaws. Further to non-invasive actuation of the tip, the proposed instrument is also able to change the grasping direction during surgical operation. Modular design of the instrument allows conversion between surgical modalities (e.g., grasping, cutting, and dissecting). The main focus of this paper is on evaluation of the grasping force capability of the proposed instrument. The mathematical formulation of fenestrated insert is presented and its non-linear behaviour is studied. In order to measure the stiffness of soft tissues, a device was developed that is also described in this chapter. Tissue characterisation experiments were conducted and results are presented and analysed here. The experimental results verify the capability of the proposed instrument in accurately measuring grasping forces and in characterising artificial tissue samples of varying stiffness.