Miniaturized Instruments for the da Vinci Research Kit: Design and Implementation of Custom Continuum Tools

The da Vinci Surgical System is a commercially available surgical robotics platform used to perform more than 450,000 surgeries annually, primarily for gynecological and urological procedures [1]. This technology enhances the surgeon's dexterity through the use of a multiarm robot with wristed instruments that enter a patient's body through small incisions. However, the size of existing instruments (5-8 mm in shaft diameter) has prevented the adoption of the da Vinci system in areas such as neurosurgery, head and neck surgery, and pediatrics [2], [3]. These applications require high dexterity in small, confined workspaces, and, therefore, new miniaturized tools are needed [4].