Multifunctional Tools for Minimally Invasive Surgery

Using new design software, engineers and surgeons are developing multifunctional tools for minimally invasive surgery (MIS), including laparoscopy and endoscopy, at Pennsylvania State University (Penn, University Park, USA).

Current MIS surgical tools provide surgeons with limited dexterity and tactile feedback. Since most exisiting MIS tools are single-function instruments, the surgeon needs to continually withdraw a tool and insert a new one. The research team studied videotapes of 29 surgical procedures, identifying sequences where multitasking could improve efficiency. For example, they found that exchanges between scissors and graspers occur frequently, so they combined these functions into the design of a new instrument.

One instrument, in the prototype stage, has tiny stainless steel jaws at the end of a long insertion rod. The jaws can function as miniature scissors, with blades about the size of a grain of rice. The jaws can also work as graspers when the surgeon turns a switch on the handle. Other switches permit blade rotation to acute right or left angles to get around obstructions. A version still on the drawing board will allow the blades to bend to improve maneuvering.

"The surgeons complain that using the existing tools is like doing surgery with chopsticks,” said Dr. Mary Frecker, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Penn's College of Medicine and leader of the software team.




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