Telemanipulation for use in surgery is an increasing field of robotics
which combines new technical and medical developments. Some drawbacks
of minimally invasive surgery can be reduced by using telemanipulatio
n systems. This article describes the development of a hydraulic gripp
er with force-feedback which is designed for use in laparoscopic surge
ry. With respect to the manipulation of bowels during a colon resectio
n a gripper is designed which exerts a force with a significantly bett
er distribution on the tissue compared to conventional grippers. This
is done by a flexible tube which curls itself around the tissue (like
the finger of a surgeon by open surgery) and prevents damaging due to
the absence of sharp (metal) edges. The force exerted on the tissue is
measured by the pressure of the water in the tube and used to control
the driving system of the forceps. Using a computer system, the force
exerted on the tissue can be limited to a certain amount by a control
algorithm. The driving system consists of an electromotor with spindl
e and a piston and is driven directly by the computer. Finally, a tele
manipulation system is presented, which consists of the hydraulic forc
eps, a transputer network and a master manipulator with force actuatio
n. With this instrument the surgeon can drive the forceps to a desired
force, which is directly presented to his finger. Future developments
include the positioning of the gripper inside its working area. Copyr
ight (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.