Actuation System of the MR-compatible Surgical Robot Manipulator

This paper presents the development of a control system for a flexible robot manipulator that can be used in MRI system. In general neurosurgery, real time MR-guide surgical robot is necessary because of the difficult operation due to narrow working area and limited field of view. In addition, the MR-compatible flexible robot manipulator has the advantage that it can perform brain tumor surgery accurately and safety. The surgical robot system consists of a flexible manipulator part, a driving part for operating the tool tip, and a control system for robot operation and MR image processing. The MR-compliant flexible manipulator needs a control system because it operates by the tendon drive method using ultrasonic motor and gear. Therefore, this paper describes the whole configuration and tele-operation control system of a flexible robot manipulator. we present the results of the experiments using the developed flexible robot manipulator and the force measurement experiment of the tool tip.