TY - JOUR

T1 - HybGrip

T2 - a synergistic hybrid gripper for enhanced robotic surgical instrument grasping

AU - Badilla-Solórzano, Jorge

AU - Ihler, Sontje

AU - Seel, Thomas

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2024.

PY - 2024/12

Y1 - 2024/12

N2 - Purpose: A fundamental task of a robotic scrub nurse is handling surgical instruments. Thus, a gripper capable of consistently grasping a wide variety of tools is essential. We introduce a novel gripper that combines granular jamming and pinching technologies to achieve a synergistic improvement in surgical instrument grasping. Methods: A reliable hybrid gripper is constructed by integrating a pinching mechanism and a standard granular jamming gripper, achieving enhanced granular interlocking. For our experiments, our prototype is affixed to the end-effector of a collaborative robot. A novel grasping strategy is proposed and utilized to evaluate the robustness and performance of our prototype on 18 different surgical tools with diverse geometries. Results: It is demonstrated that the integration of the pinching mechanism significantly enhances grasping performance compared with standard granular jamming grippers, with a success rate above 98%. It is shown that with the combined use of our gripper with an underlying grid, i.e., a complementary device placed beneath the instruments, robustness and performance are further enhanced. Conclusion: Our prototype’s performance in surgical instrument grasping stands on par with, if not surpasses, that of comparable contemporary studies, ensuring its competitiveness. Our gripper proves to be robust, cost-effective, and simple, requiring no instrument-specific grasping strategies. Future research will focus on addressing the sterilizability of our prototype and assessing the viability of the introduced grid for intra-operative use.

AB - Purpose: A fundamental task of a robotic scrub nurse is handling surgical instruments. Thus, a gripper capable of consistently grasping a wide variety of tools is essential. We introduce a novel gripper that combines granular jamming and pinching technologies to achieve a synergistic improvement in surgical instrument grasping. Methods: A reliable hybrid gripper is constructed by integrating a pinching mechanism and a standard granular jamming gripper, achieving enhanced granular interlocking. For our experiments, our prototype is affixed to the end-effector of a collaborative robot. A novel grasping strategy is proposed and utilized to evaluate the robustness and performance of our prototype on 18 different surgical tools with diverse geometries. Results: It is demonstrated that the integration of the pinching mechanism significantly enhances grasping performance compared with standard granular jamming grippers, with a success rate above 98%. It is shown that with the combined use of our gripper with an underlying grid, i.e., a complementary device placed beneath the instruments, robustness and performance are further enhanced. Conclusion: Our prototype’s performance in surgical instrument grasping stands on par with, if not surpasses, that of comparable contemporary studies, ensuring its competitiveness. Our gripper proves to be robust, cost-effective, and simple, requiring no instrument-specific grasping strategies. Future research will focus on addressing the sterilizability of our prototype and assessing the viability of the introduced grid for intra-operative use.

KW - Granular jamming gripper

KW - Hybrid gripper

KW - Robot-assisted surgery

KW - Robotic scrub nurse

KW - Surgical instrument grasping

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85201595330&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s11548-024-03245-5

DO - 10.1007/s11548-024-03245-5

M3 - Article

C2 - 39167331

AN - SCOPUS:85201595330

VL - 19

SP - 2363

EP - 2370

JO - International journal of computer assisted radiology and surgery

JF - International journal of computer assisted radiology and surgery

SN - 1861-6410

IS - 12

ER -