ValveTech: A Novel Robotic Approach for Minimally Invasive Aortic Valve Replacement.

Objective: Aortic valve disease is the most common heart disease in the elderly calling for replacement with an artificial valve. The presented surgical robot aims to provide a highly controllable instrument for efficient delivery of an artificial valve by the help of integrated endoscopic vision.

Methods: A robot (called ValveTech), intended for minimally invasive surgery (MIS) and consisting of a flexible cable driven manipulator, a passive arm, and a control unit has been designed and prototyped.

ESPRESSO: A novel device for laser-assisted surgery of the anterior eye segment.

Introduction: Merging robotics with laser eye surgery could enhance precision, repeatability and automation. During some eye laser procedures the patient is awake, thus eye stabilization is desired to avoid movements that could affect the treatment.

Material And Methods: The ESPRESSO platform has a two-stage actuation system to position a stabilization tool on the eye, a proximity sensing unit to monitor the stabilization tool position, and a sensing unit to monitor the pressure exerted on the eye.

A miniaturized robotic platform for natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery: in vivo validation.

Background: Natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) involves accessing the abdominal cavity via one of the body natural orifices for enabling minimally invasive surgical procedures. However, the constraints imposed by the access modality and the limited available technology make NOTES very challenging for surgeons. Tools redesign and introduction of novel surgical instruments are imperative in order to make NOTES operative in a real surgical scenario, reproducible and reliable.

Hand-held robotic instrument for dextrous laparoscopic interventions.

Background: Surgical instruments used in many types of minimally invasive procedures are rigid or only limitedly flexible. Some common tasks like suturing, require precise and dextrous movements that are difficult to perform by means of instruments with limited degrees of freedom (DOF).

Methods: A hand-held lightweight and ergonomic robotic instrument with a 3-DOF roll-pitch-roll end-effector has been developed, which can be controlled by the surgeon with one hand like a conventional instrument.