Motion control analysis of a parallel robot assisted minimally invasive surgery/microsurgery system (PRAMiSS)

This paper presents motion control architectures for a parallel robot assisted minimally invasive surgery/microsurgery system (PRAMiSS) that enable it to achieve milli/micro-manipulations under the constraint of moving through a fixed penetration point or so-called remote centre-of-motion (RCM) point without any mechanical constraint. Two control structures suitable for minimally invasive surgery operations with submillimeter accuracy and for minimally invasive microsurgery operations with the desired accuracy in micron range are proposed. The control algorithm also applies orientation constraints preventing the tip from orienting around the instrument axis due to the robot movements as well as a minimum displacement constraint to minimise the movements of the parallel micropositioning robot. Experiments were performed and the results are analysed in this paper to verify accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed control algorithm for both cases of minimally invasive surgery and microsurgery operations. The experimental results present good accuracy and performance of the control algorithm. The numerical modelling and graphical simulations were also carried out and the results are also provided that demonstrate the correlation between the experimental results and physical responses. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.