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Micromachines
Special Issues
Small-Scale Medical Robots: Trends and Challenges
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Small-Scale Medical Robots: Trends and Challenges

A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X). This special issue belongs to the section "E：Engineering and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 January 2023) | Viewed by 7740

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Amirreza Aghakhani

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Interests: microrobotics; acoustics; microfluidics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Innovative new research on small-scale medical robotics, including micro- and nano-robots, has emerged with a promise to enable minimally invasive medical therapy in hard-to-access areas of the body. Researchers have already shown exciting applications of micro/nanorobots in targeted cargo/drug delivery, microsurgery, and thrombus ablation, among many others. Nevertheless, to facilitate the transition of the prototypes and innovations in clinical settings, this field needs to integrate interdisciplinary research efforts from engineering and the physical sciences to biomedicine. Currently, the pressing challenges that hinder the development of true medical micro/nanorobots include but are not limited to: (1) efficient locomotion at a small scale in biological media, (2) real-time imaging and control, (3) adaptable design and scalable fabrication methods, and (4) application-specific medical functions. Therefore, this Special Issue aims to present research papers, communications, and review articles that demonstrate recent advancements and solutions in any aspects of the above-mentioned research challenges.

We look forward to receiving your submissions.

Dr. Amirreza Aghakhani
Guest Editor

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. Micromachines 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 2600 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.

Keywords

  • microrobots
  • nanorobots
  • microswimmers
  • nanoswimmers
  • minimally invasive therapy
  • bioengineering

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 5167 KiB  
Article
Dynamic Analysis and Experimental Study of Lasso Transmission for Hand Rehabilitation Robot
by Jingxin Lu, Kai Guo and Hongbo Yang
Micromachines 2023, 14(4), 858; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14040858 - 15 Apr 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1419
Abstract
Lasso transmission is a method for realizing long-distance flexible transmission and lightweight robots. However, there are transmission characteristic losses of velocity, force, and displacement during the motion of lasso transmission. Therefore, the analysis of transmission characteristic losses of lasso transmission has become the [...] Read more.
Lasso transmission is a method for realizing long-distance flexible transmission and lightweight robots. However, there are transmission characteristic losses of velocity, force, and displacement during the motion of lasso transmission. Therefore, the analysis of transmission characteristic losses of lasso transmission has become the focus of research. For this study, at first, we developed a new flexible hand rehabilitation robot with a lasso transmission method. Second, the theoretical analysis and simulation analysis of the dynamics of the lasso transmission in the flexible hand rehabilitation robot were carried out to calculate the force, velocity, and displacement losses of the lasso transmission. Finally, the mechanism and transmission models were established for experimental studies to measure the effects of different curvatures and speeds on the lasso transmission torque. The experimental data and image analysis results show torque loss in the process of lasso transmission and an increase in torque loss with the increase in the lasso curvature radius and transmission speed. The study of the lasso transmission characteristics is important for the design and control of hand functional rehabilitation robots, providing an important reference for the design of flexible rehabilitation robots and also guiding the research on the lasso regarding the compensation method for transmission losses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Small-Scale Medical Robots: Trends and Challenges)
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18 pages, 7444 KiB  
Article
Miniature Manipulator Design and Cartesian Control for Minimally Invasive Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery
by Yanqiang Lei, Yibin Li, Xingyao Zhang, Gang Zhang and Fuxin Du
Micromachines 2022, 13(12), 2171; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi13122171 - 8 Dec 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1633
Abstract
This paper presents a miniature manipulator under Cartesian control for minimally invasive transluminal endoscopic surgery. The manipulator had four degrees of freedom (DoFs) and a diameter of only 3.5 mm. The compact size of the manipulator allowed it to pass through the instrument [...] Read more.
This paper presents a miniature manipulator under Cartesian control for minimally invasive transluminal endoscopic surgery. The manipulator had four degrees of freedom (DoFs) and a diameter of only 3.5 mm. The compact size of the manipulator allowed it to pass through the instrument channel of the endoscope, and its high dexterity allowed it to perform most of the operations in endoscopic surgery such as marking, grasping, hanging, etc. The implicit function relationship in the kinematics of the continuum manipulator was analyzed. By introducing the regression analysis method, the analytical form of the inverse kinematics was obtained. The distribution of singularities in the manipulator workspace was analyzed with emphasis. The presence of singularities made Cartesian mapping control between the primary side and secondary side impossible. By introducing the smoothing method of the joint trajectory, the discontinuity of the joint velocity at the singularity was avoided and the primary–secondary mapping under Cartesian control was realized. The trajectory-tracking experiment proved that the smoothness of the joint trajectory could make the manipulator smoothly pass through the singularity. The fixed-point marking experiment proved that the Cartesian control could improve the intuition of operation and the efficiency of task completion. Comprehensive performance experiments showed that the manipulator had enough dexterity to execute complex operations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Small-Scale Medical Robots: Trends and Challenges)
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Review

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25 pages, 2971 KiB  
Review
Technical and Clinical Progress on Robot-Assisted Endovascular Interventions: A Review
by Wenke Duan, Toluwanimi Akinyemi, Wenjing Du, Jun Ma, Xingyu Chen, Fuhao Wang, Olatunji Omisore, Jingjing Luo, Hongbo Wang and Lei Wang
Micromachines 2023, 14(1), 197; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14010197 - 12 Jan 2023
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 4131
Abstract
Prior methods of patient care have changed in recent years due to the availability of minimally invasive surgical platforms for endovascular interventions. These platforms have demonstrated the ability to improve patients’ vascular intervention outcomes, and global morbidities and mortalities from vascular disease are [...] Read more.
Prior methods of patient care have changed in recent years due to the availability of minimally invasive surgical platforms for endovascular interventions. These platforms have demonstrated the ability to improve patients’ vascular intervention outcomes, and global morbidities and mortalities from vascular disease are decreasing. Nonetheless, there are still concerns about the long-term effects of exposing interventionalists and patients to the operational hazards in the cath lab, and the perioperative risks that patients undergo. For these reasons, robot-assisted vascular interventions were developed to provide interventionalists with the ability to perform minimally invasive procedures with improved surgical workflow. We conducted a thorough literature search and presented a review of 130 studies published within the last 20 years that focused on robot-assisted endovascular interventions and are closely related to the current gains and obstacles of vascular interventional robots published up to 2022. We assessed both the research-based prototypes and commercial products, with an emphasis on their technical characteristics and application domains. Furthermore, we outlined how the robotic platforms enhanced both surgeons’ and patients’ perioperative experiences of robot-assisted vascular interventions. Finally, we summarized our findings and proposed three key milestones that could improve the development of the next-generation vascular interventional robots. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Small-Scale Medical Robots: Trends and Challenges)
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