Development of Thoracoscopic Surgical System based on Concept of Virtual Incision

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K16338
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Medical systems
• Research Institution: Tokyo Women's Medical University
• Principal Investigator: Horise Yuki 東京女子医科大学, 医学部, 特任助教 (70749233)
• Research Collaborator: MASAMUNE Ken
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 内視鏡手術 / 胸腔鏡 / 仮想孔

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In thoracoscopic surgery, the port position for surgical instruments is limited by costal bones and it is difficult to operate with the optimal instrument placement. Therefore, we have developed a new surgical support system that can provide ports at arbitrary locations using the "concept of virtual incision " that virtually adds incisions.
The proposed system consists of a surgical device with a semicircular at center part and a dedicated holding arm, and it can be operated with the same 5-DOF (extension and contraction, axial rotation, opening and closing, and spherical movement) as a normal straight surgical instrument has. In this study, two prototype devices and a dedicated grasping arm were developed, and a basic operation test and a subjective evaluation by a respiratory surgeon were performed.

Free Research Field

医用システム

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

胸腔鏡手術支援システムは、仮想孔という新しい概念を用いて開発しており、従来の手術と比べて、器具配置の最適化により操作性が向上し、手術時間の短縮や治療成績の向上、また癒着が生じた際には追加の孔を設ける必要がなく整容性の向上も期待される。患者と医師の両者にとってメリットの高いシステムであり、社会的な意義も大きい。