Toward Patient-Specific 3D-Printed Robotic Systems for Surgical Interventions

• Published in: IEEE transactions on medical robotics and bionics Vol. 1; no. 2; pp. 77 - 87
• Main Authors: Desai, Jaydev P., Sheng, Jun, Cheng, Shing Shin, Wang, Xuefeng, Deaton, Nancy J., Rahman, Nahian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Piscataway IEEE 01.05.2019; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: 3D-printed actuators; 3D-printed sensors; 3D-printing; accuracy; biocompatibility; Frequency division multiplexing; Human-computer interaction; Manufacturing execution systems; Medical research; Medical robotics; neurosurgical robot; patient-specific; Programmable logic arrays; Robot sensing systems; robotic catheter; Robotic surgery; Robots; shape memory alloy; smoothness; State-of-the-art reviews; sterilizability; stiffness; Surgery; Surgical robots; tendon-driven; thermal stability; Three dimensional printing; Three-dimensional displays
• ISSN: 2576-3202; 2576-3202
• DOI: 10.1109/TMRB.2019.2912444

Surgical robots have been extensively researched for a wide range of surgical procedures due to the advantages of improved precision, sensing capabilities, motion scaling, and tremor reduction, to name a few. Though the underlying disease condition or pathology may be the same across patients, the intervention approach to treat the condition can vary significantly across patients. This is especially true for endovascular interventions, where each case brings forth its own challenges. Hence, it is critical to develop patient-specific surgical robotic systems to maximize the benefits of robot-assisted surgery. Manufacturing patient-specific robots can be challenging for complex procedures and, furthermore, the time required to build them can be a challenge. To overcome this challenge, additive manufacturing, namely, 3D-printing, is a promising solution. 3D-printing enables fabrication of complex parts precisely and efficiently. Although 3D-printing techniques have been researched for general medical applications, patient-specific surgical robots are currently in their infancy. After reviewing the state-of-the-art in 3D-printed surgical robots, this article discusses 3D-printing techniques that could potentially satisfy the stringent requirements for surgical interventions. We also present the accomplishments in our group in developing 3D-printed surgical robots for neurosurgical and cardiovascular interventions. Finally, we discuss the challenges in developing 3D-printed surgical robots and provide our perspectives on future research directions.