Development of Robotic Forceps for Laparoscopic Surgery

Minimally invasive surgery accelerates postoperative recovery, but can only be applied by surgeons having advanced conduct skills. We developed a master-slave manipulator, i.e., robotic forceps for laparoscopic surgery that enhances surgical skill. Robotic forceps consists of a master-slave manipulator, a support component, a controller, an operating conditions display, and a foot switch for changing operating conditions. This paper details specifications and components of robotic forceps and evaluates conductance, such as measurement of the slave hand’s grip and suturing and ligaturing, conducted on a sponge stomach model. A comparison of support function in experiments demonstrates their effectiveness.