Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
5.9
3.7
Journals
Robotics
Special Issues
Advanced Technologies for Autonomous Surgical Robotics
share announcement

Advanced Technologies for Autonomous Surgical Robotics

A special issue of Robotics (ISSN 2218-6581). This special issue belongs to the section "Medical Robotics and Service Robotics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2022) | Viewed by 15205

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Mario Selvaggio

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
PRISMA Lab, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
Interests: shared control, robot teleoperation, passivity-based control, soft robotics, grasping and manipulation.
Dr. Sara Moccia

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
The BioRobotics Institute, Sant'Anna Scuola Universitaria Superiore Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Interests: supervised and semi-supervised deep-learning algorithms; computer-assisted diagnosis; surgical data science
Dr. Bruno Scaglioni

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
Interests: simulation, modelling and control of robotic systems; software aspects of the magnetic flexible endoscope platform for colonoscopy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleague,

The field of robotics and AI have developed considerably in the last decades, bringing innovative technological solutions and utilities in the medical fields and especially in support of surgical activities. Robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are primary enabling technologies that drive this research field towards the development of new frontiers in autonomous and semi-autonomous surgical operations. Surgeons can nowadays be assisted by intelligent systems that augment their capabilities, exhibiting cognitive abilities and increasing levels of autonomy. However, to date, these technologies are mostly limited to research laboratories and only a few of them are readily available in clinical practice.

The goal of this Special Issue is to collect papers about the latest advancements in the use of robotics and AI to increase the level of autonomy in robotic surgical operations. This is intended to provide an overview of the most innovative techniques in the field of AI and their validation with experimental data. The main focus is on the use of robotics and AI technologies for the assistance and support of medical operators in the fields of surgery, endoscopy, and broader clinical practice.

Of particular interest are papers in which surgical robotic systems combine AI with assistive methodologies or autonomous behaviors. Relevant to this special issue are also contributions that explore acceptability and acceptance of AI-enabled surgical robots, as well as other aspects such as ethics, perceptions, human factors, or exploration of suitable surgical outcome measures.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • AI applied to autonomous surgical robotics
  • AI for surgical-instrument detection, segmentation and tracking
  • AI for autonomous (sub)task learning and execution
  • AI for autonomous navigation in body cavities
  • Semi-supervised and unsupervised analysis of surgical images
  • Intelligent mechatronic devices and sensors
  • Cognitive architectures
  • Surgeon intention and gesture recognition
  • Shared control and shared autonomy
  • Safe interaction methods
  • Haptics, augmented reality and other assistive methods
  • Regulatory & ethical aspects of AI in medical robotics

Dr. Mario Selvaggio
Dr. Sara Moccia
Dr. Bruno Scaglioni
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Robotics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (2 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

17 pages, 5105 KiB  
Article
A Natural Language Interface for an Autonomous Camera Control System on the da Vinci Surgical Robot
by Maysara Elazzazi, Luay Jawad, Mohammed Hilfi and Abhilash Pandya
Robotics 2022, 11(2), 40; https://doi.org/10.3390/robotics11020040 - 25 Mar 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3637
Abstract
Positioning a camera during laparoscopic and robotic procedures is challenging and essential for successful operations. During surgery, if the camera view is not optimal, surgery becomes more complex and potentially error-prone. To address this need, we have developed a voice interface to an [...] Read more.
Positioning a camera during laparoscopic and robotic procedures is challenging and essential for successful operations. During surgery, if the camera view is not optimal, surgery becomes more complex and potentially error-prone. To address this need, we have developed a voice interface to an autonomous camera system that can trigger behavioral changes and be more of a partner to the surgeon. Similarly to a human operator, the camera can take cues from the surgeon to help create optimized surgical camera views. It has the advantage of nominal behavior that is helpful in most general cases and has a natural language interface that makes it dynamically customizable and on-demand. It permits the control of a camera with a higher level of abstraction. This paper shows the implementation details and usability of a voice-activated autonomous camera system. A voice activation test on a limited set of practiced key phrases was performed using both online and offline voice recognition systems. The results show an on-average greater than 94% recognition accuracy for the online system and 86% accuracy for the offline system. However, the response time of the online system was greater than 1.5 s, whereas the local system was 0.6 s. This work is a step towards cooperative surgical robots that will effectively partner with human operators to enable more robust surgeries. A video link of the system in operation is provided in this paper. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Technologies for Autonomous Surgical Robotics)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

34 pages, 2075 KiB  
Review
Snake Robots for Surgical Applications: A Review
by Jenna Seetohul and Mahmood Shafiee
Robotics 2022, 11(3), 57; https://doi.org/10.3390/robotics11030057 - 5 May 2022
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 9878
Abstract
Although substantial advancements have been achieved in robot-assisted surgery, the blueprint to existing snake robotics predominantly focuses on the preliminary structural design, control, and human–robot interfaces, with features which have not been particularly explored in the literature. This paper aims to conduct a [...] Read more.
Although substantial advancements have been achieved in robot-assisted surgery, the blueprint to existing snake robotics predominantly focuses on the preliminary structural design, control, and human–robot interfaces, with features which have not been particularly explored in the literature. This paper aims to conduct a review of planning and operation concepts of hyper-redundant serpentine robots for surgical use, as well as any future challenges and solutions for better manipulation. Current researchers in the field of the manufacture and navigation of snake robots have faced issues, such as a low dexterity of the end-effectors around delicate organs, state estimation and the lack of depth perception on two-dimensional screens. A wide range of robots have been analysed, such as the i2Snake robot, inspiring the use of force and position feedback, visual servoing and augmented reality (AR). We present the types of actuation methods, robot kinematics, dynamics, sensing, and prospects of AR integration in snake robots, whilst addressing their shortcomings to facilitate the surgeon’s task. For a smoother gait control, validation and optimization algorithms such as deep learning databases are examined to mitigate redundancy in module linkage backlash and accidental self-collision. In essence, we aim to provide an outlook on robot configurations during motion by enhancing their material compositions within anatomical biocompatibility standards. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Technologies for Autonomous Surgical Robotics)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-2
Back to TopTop