Cn. Riviere et al., ADAPTIVE CANCELING OF PHYSIOLOGICAL TREMOR FOR IMPROVED PRECISION IN MICROSURGERY, IEEE transactions on biomedical engineering, 45(7), 1998, pp. 839-846
Physiological hand tremor impedes microsurgery. We present both a nave
l adaptive algorithm for tremor estimation and a new technique for act
ive real-time canceling of physiological tremor. Tremor is modeled onl
ine using the weighted-frequency Fourier linear combiner (WFLC). This
adaptive algorithm models tremor as a modulating sinusoid, and tracks
its frequency, amplitude, and phase. Piezoelectric actuators move the
surgical instrument tip in opposition to the motion of tremor, effecti
vely subtracting the tremor from the total motion, We demonstrate the
technique in one dimension using a cantilever apparatus as a benchtop
simulation of the surgical instrument. Actual hand motion, prerecorded
during simulated surgery, is used as input. In 25 tests, WFLC tremor
compensation reduces the rms tip motion in the 6-16 Hz tremor band by
67%, and reduces the rms error with respect to an a posteriori estimat
e of voluntary motion by 30%, The technique can be implemented in a ha
nd-held microsurgical instrument.