Shape-memory-alloy active forceps for laparoscopic surgery

In laparoscopic surgery, forceps are stuck through trocars into the abdominal cavity, and dissect and grasp internal organs. Because of their straight shapes, the current forceps suffer from the narrow range of operation and limit the skill of surgeons. In this paper, we propose active forceps actuated by unconventional use of shape memory alloy. In developing active forceps, we utilize two properties of shape memory alloy, shape memory effect and super elasticity The forceps possess both stiffness for transmitting operation forces from surgeons and flexibility in changing their shapes.