System Concept for Collision-Free Robot Assisted Surgery Using Real-Time Sensing

The introduction of robot assistance into the surgical process yields beside all desired advantages also additional sources of potential risks. This is especially due to the fact that the working space of the robot system is overlapping with the patient and the surgical personnel in a narrow environment around the situs. To enable the usage of partially autonomous robotic system in this field, we propose a novel approach which combines an algorithm for guaranteed collision-free path-planning with a real-time monitoring system of the workspace. This paper details the concept as well as the integration plan, showing first results for both components.