Wearable Robots Hope to Improve Minimally Invasive Surgery

Robotics Trends -------- Researchers are developing wearable robotic tools for minimally invasive surgery designed to give surgeons more natural and dexterous movement than current surgical robots offer. The €4 million research project, which is being funded by the European Commission under HORIZON 2020, says the robotic tools will be worn on the surgeon’s hands and transmit the surgeon’s own movements to a closed surgical interface without restrictions, reducing the overall cognitive, manipulation and training demand. There are three key pieces of hardware for this new surgical robotic system. First is the exoskeleton that fits over the surgeon’s hands and controls the instruments inside the body. The exoskeleton will act as a new surgical ‘gripper’ that mimics the thumb and two fingers of the hand. To learn more click on the picture below to read the article.