SoloAssist

Funded by: LGA Nordbayern

In cooperation with the companies Delta Engineering and MicroEpsilon an assisting system to guide the camera during minimally invasive surgeries is developed.

The robot arm “SoloAssist” (see figure) targets to provide a stable view on the operation field. Additionally, the mobility, an easy handling, an appropriate size and weight and the cost price are determining factors for the development. The goal is to establish a system on the market that is optimally adjusted to the practical use in the OR. The manual camera guidance by the assistant surgeon is exhausting and requires high concentration, which yields to an unstable image at long surgeries. Due to the fact that the camera guidance does not require special medical knowledge it is realizable by a mechatronical supporting system. In this case the surgeon steers the camera interactively with a joystick to precisely control the movements of the endoscope in all directions by himself.

The hydraulic system consists of 3 active and 2 passive joints in order to offer sufficient mobility. All parts above the surgery table comprise non-metallic materials to provide the possiblity of intra-operative diagnosis with X-ray and MRI.