In recent years, surgical robots have offered significant advantages and demonstrated great promise in terms of technological advances and extensive clinical applications in minimally invasive surgery (MIS). MIS procedures involve performing delicate operations on anatomical structures through small incisions or natural orifices along tortuous paths inside the human body. Thus, such operations give rise to constraints in accessing and operation, and further technical challenges. These demand the development trends to be diverted from straight and rigid operational arms to flexible and continuum manipulators which support broad applications with minimal trauma and facilitate the demanding clinical procedures with miniaturized instrumentation and highly curvilinear access capabilities. However, the lack of sufficient force and shape sensing techniques poses great challenges on precise and reliable motion control of continuum manipulators, as well as improved patient safety.
Despite the merits brought by the development of continuum manipulators, great challenges are manifested, especially regarding miniature and high-precision force and shape sensing techniques, precise control and operational safety. Among them, the development of force and shape sensing techniques are crucial and fundamental for safe operation during robotic surgeries. The goal of this Research Topic is to address such technical difficulties. A positive response towards these challenges can encourage the advances in closely associated techniques of closed-loop control, path planning, surgeon–robot interaction, surgical manipulation safety and patient safety concerns in MIS.
The scope of this Research Topic encompasses promising, recent, and novel studies in the field of miniature force and shape sensing techniques. Areas to be covered in this Research Topic may include, but are not limited to:
• Miniature force sensing for distal or proximal parts of Surgical Instruments and Robots
• Flexible and stretchable sensors or sensing systems for medical usage
• Optical fibre-based force and shape sensing
• Model-based or Learning-based force or shape estimation
• Closed-loop control for medical/surgical robots based on force or shape sensing
• Novel force and shape sensing technologies for minimally invasive surgery
In recent years, surgical robots have offered significant advantages and demonstrated great promise in terms of technological advances and extensive clinical applications in minimally invasive surgery (MIS). MIS procedures involve performing delicate operations on anatomical structures through small incisions or natural orifices along tortuous paths inside the human body. Thus, such operations give rise to constraints in accessing and operation, and further technical challenges. These demand the development trends to be diverted from straight and rigid operational arms to flexible and continuum manipulators which support broad applications with minimal trauma and facilitate the demanding clinical procedures with miniaturized instrumentation and highly curvilinear access capabilities. However, the lack of sufficient force and shape sensing techniques poses great challenges on precise and reliable motion control of continuum manipulators, as well as improved patient safety.
Despite the merits brought by the development of continuum manipulators, great challenges are manifested, especially regarding miniature and high-precision force and shape sensing techniques, precise control and operational safety. Among them, the development of force and shape sensing techniques are crucial and fundamental for safe operation during robotic surgeries. The goal of this Research Topic is to address such technical difficulties. A positive response towards these challenges can encourage the advances in closely associated techniques of closed-loop control, path planning, surgeon–robot interaction, surgical manipulation safety and patient safety concerns in MIS.
The scope of this Research Topic encompasses promising, recent, and novel studies in the field of miniature force and shape sensing techniques. Areas to be covered in this Research Topic may include, but are not limited to:
• Miniature force sensing for distal or proximal parts of Surgical Instruments and Robots
• Flexible and stretchable sensors or sensing systems for medical usage
• Optical fibre-based force and shape sensing
• Model-based or Learning-based force or shape estimation
• Closed-loop control for medical/surgical robots based on force or shape sensing
• Novel force and shape sensing technologies for minimally invasive surgery
