An intuitive control algorithm for a snake-like natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery platform: A preliminary simulation study

PurposeNatural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) is a next generation surgical method with many promising benefits. Many snake-like NOTES platforms have been developed, but the lack of a proper control algorithm prevents those platforms from being used in practices. This study proposes an intuitive control algorithm for snake-like NOTES platforms, which is simple in structure and easily applicable to various NOTES systems.MethodsAn intuitive snake-like NOTES platform control algorithm based on the motion history and insertion depth data is proposed. The operator directly controls the head module of the platform while the rest of the platform follows the motion of the head module according to the insertion depth. Also, the orientation of the head module is set to be constant for intuitive control. The algorithm was verified through various simulations.ResultsSeveral random and anatomical paths were prepared to validate the performance of the proposed algorithm and it was found that the proposed algorithm was able to guide the NOTES platform into the desired location.ConclusionsThe proposed algorithm provides an intuitive and efficient way of controlling snake-like NOTES platforms and we expect that the proposed algorithm will help surgeons performing NOTES.