Introduction to Surgical Robotics

The application-oriented course begins with a presentation of surgical interventions in cooperation with surgeons. State-of-the-art methods and methods with robotic assistance will be presented and compared. Then, background knowledge for surgical robotics is presented. Eventually, the acquired knowledge is applied to develop a solution to an existing clinical problem using robotics assistance.

Lecture:
+ Basics of robotic assistance in several surgical applications (potential, challenges and problem definitions)
+ Introduction to robotics:
++ System
++ Kinematics
++ Dynamics
++ Mechanics
++ Electronics
++ Sensors
++ Control
++ Software-Infrastructure
++ Safety
++ Workflow
++ Calibration and registration
++ User interface
+ Analysis of current surgical techniques and current trends in related domains (e.g. industry, service robotics, automotive). Identification of innovation potential for future applications of robotics in surgery
++ Current surgical techniques
+++ Workflow, time requirements
+++ Data recording, “digital gaps” (monitoring, repeatability)
+++ Tools
+++ Challenges (what makes it a difficult intervention?)
++ Which technologies are mature?
+++ Sensors, medical imaging, actuators, cognition, machine learning
++ Conception and development of new surgical applications using robotic assistance
+++ Estimation of efforts
+++ First steps
+++ Project schedule

Project Assignments (3-4 Assignments in team with 3-5 students each):
++ Brainstorming, description of the surgical intervention and the problem to be solved (product requirements), description of solution to be implemented (functional specification)
++ Draft of project schedule and analysis of feasibility
++ Implementation of a functional model (using simulation, prototyping etc.) and presentation (including a project report – max. 15 pages)

Students learn about the foundations of applying robotic technology to surgical applications:
+ Analyzing the pros and cons of the use of robots in existing surgical workflows
+ Fundamentals of modes of operation, compiling requirements, specifying components and integration aspects of systems
+ Conception and modeling of solutions for problems based on technical and algorithmic approaches
+ Definition of a clinical project for enhancing surgical applications by the use of robotics
This class teaches the fundamental skill sets for working in the field of surgical robotics combined with a project to apply the learned approaches.

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+ John J. Craig. 1989. Introduction to Robotics: Mechanics and Control (2nd ed.). Addison-Wesley Longman Publishing Co., Inc., Boston, MA, USA.

+ Hagn, U., Nickl, M., Jörg, S., Tobergte, A., Kübler, B., Passig, G., Gröger, M., Fröhlich, F., Seibold, U., Konietschke, R., Le-Tien, L., Albu-Schäffer, A., Grebenstein, M., Ortmaier, T. & Hirzinger, G. (2008) DLR MiroSurge – towards versatility in surgical robotics. 7. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Computer- und Roboterassistierte Chirurgie e.V. Proceedings of CURAC, 2008, pp. 143 – 146.

+ Jacob Rosen; Blake Hannaford; Richard M. Satava (Eds.) (2011) Surgical Robotics – Systems Applications and Visions, Springer, ISBN 978-1-4419-1125-4

Vortrag und Ausarbeitung der Projektarbeit; 3 Hausaufgaben, zu lösen in Teams