Mechatronic Design of a Two-Arm Concentric Tube Robot System for Rigid Neuroendoscopy

Open surgical approaches are still often employed in neurosurgery, despite the availability of neuroendoscopic approaches that reduce invasiveness. The challenge of maneuvering instruments at the tip of the endoscope makes neuroendoscopy demanding for the physician. The only way to aim tools passed through endoscope ports is to tilt the entire endoscope; but, tilting compresses brain tissue through which the endoscope passes and can damage it. Concentric tube robots can provide necessary dexterity without endoscope tilting, while passing through existing ports in the endoscope and carrying surgical tools in their inner lumen. In this article, we describe the mechatronic design of a new concentric tube robot that can deploy two concentric tube manipulators through a standard neuroendoscope. The robot uses a compact differential drive and features embedded motor control electronics and redundant position sensors for safety. In addition to the mechatronic design of this system, this article contributes experimental validation in the context of colloid cyst removal, comparing our new robotic system to standard manual endoscopy in a brain phantom. The robotic approach essentially eliminated endoscope tilt during the procedure (17.09$^{\circ }$ for the manual approach vs. 1.16$^{\circ }$ for the robotic system). The robotic system also enables a single surgeon to perform the procedure—typically in a manual approach one surgeon aims the endoscope and another operates the tools delivered through its ports.