CHANNELS

Aerospace

Automotive

Automated & Autonomous Vehicles

Battery & Electrification Technology

Defense

Drone TV

Electronics

Manufacturing & Prototyping

Materials

Medical

Motion Control

RF & Microwave Technology

Robotics & Automation

Sensors & IoT

Test & Measurement

Aerospace
Automotive
Automated & Autonomous Vehicles
Battery & Electrification Technology
Defense
Drone TV
Electronics
Manufacturing & Prototyping
Materials
Medical
Motion Control
RF & Microwave Technology
Robotics & Automation
Sensors & IoT
Test & Measurement
Aerospace & Defense
Search Results

Flex Dex: New Robotic Tool for Better Minimally Invasive Surgery

Minimally invasive surgery is preferred over traditional surgical methods due to faster recovery times and less trauma to the patient's body, but tools to perform this surgery are either expensive, high-functioning robots or cheaper, more limiting manual tools. Now, engineers at the University of Michigan have developed a robotic tool that will make performing minimally invasive surgery cheaper and easier, and also provide higher functionality over existing low-cost tools. The tool, called Flex Dex, acts as an extension of the surgeon's arm, allowing the doctor to control it with just a turn of the wrist.

Topics:
Automation Medical Motion Control Robotics

More From SAE Media Group

    Transcript

    00:00:01 our device is called Flex deex it's essentially an enhanced dexterity device for minimal invasive surgery minimally invasive surgery as as the term indicates is essentially surgery that is performed through tiny incisions on the patient's body the advantages are numerous faster recovery less trauma less pain but uh from the perspective of the surgeon the surgeon needs to have

    00:00:24 the appropriate technology to be able to perform procedures in a minimally invasive manner as opposed to Trad open manner for minimally invasive surgery the existing instrument technology falls into two broad categories on one extreme you have lowcost or affordable tools but that provide fairly limited functionality on the Other Extreme you have these very sophisticated

    00:00:46 instruments or tools which is the robot provides High functionality but is also very high in cost and our goal was to come up with something that provides this High functionality at a low cost and that is what we've been able to accomplish with flex scks this this is the flex deex device the device is mounted on my forearm uh there's a tool frame a tool shaft and what we call an

    00:01:08 ector you can see that if I want the Endor tip to move up and down I just have to move my hand up and down if I want the N effective tip to move left and right I just move my hand left and right so in in other words this little unit here becomes a version of my own hands inside the patient's body that Faithfully follow the motion of my hand and in fact fact that's the key thing so

    00:01:31 far such technology or such capability of enhanced dexterity and intuitive control was available only via robots and this is the first time where we have been able to accomplish similar functionality via purely mechanical design without the use of any sensors actuators or computer control which is what makes the design very low cost very robust we really hope uh that the

    00:01:55 product is in the surgeon's hands in um perhaps 18 to 24 months if a technology like ours is made available that provides the the desired functionality then our expectation is that more and more surgeons would uh would be willing to uh adopt minimal invasive surgery thereby bringing the advantages and benefits of this kind of surgery to a larger population of patients