Enabling Technologies Track

Motion control is what makes robotics systems ‘robotic’, and it is advances in motion control technologies that have spurred a great deal of robotics innovation and a dramatic increase in the use of robotics technologies and products around the globe, including for healthcare applications. But compared to industrial and consumer motion control technologies, solutions for healthcare applications typically have different, and often very stringent, functional requirements in areas such as safety, reliability, tolerances, cleanability, sterilization and more. In this panel session, attendees will learn how the latest products and technologies support the development of advanced healthcare robotics systems and allow for new capabilities and new applications.

Designing a robot arm for a medical application presents many challenges, one being the correct design of the joint. To balance performance, cost, and mass inside a specified a volume, choices (and compromises) must be made. Making the correct decisions about the primary components in robotic joints – motors, encoders, gears and drives – results in joint designs that correctly balance performance, cost, mass and volume. In this session, Novanta’s Mark Holcomb will review the critical joint components, highlighting the unique properties of each that allow for a successful joint design. He will highlight the key motor, encoder and drive features to look for when designing a joint for a medical application.

There are ~640 million people worldwide who are concurrently deaf and blind. Without independent communication tools, this historically underserved community is often cut off from the abled world and its resources. Robotics technology can provide disabled populations access to the technology abled individuals take advantage of each day such as communication tools, entertainment mediums, real-time translators and more. In this session, Tatum Robotics founder Samantha Johnson will describe how 3D printing and AI can be utilized to develop robotics solutions for the deafblind community, including an anthropomorphic hand+wrist and two compliant arms as a communication device for tactile sign language—the primary and often only communication method of deafblind people.

Advanced medical tools and robotic-assisted surgical systems require precise localization information in order to perform tasks such as tool/instrument positioning/orientation or relative patient and device positioning within a surgical space. The added visibility from positioning solutions help improve efficiency, performance/outcomes, repeatability, and operator confidence during procedures.

During this session, attendees will learn how radio frequency microlocation technology can be used as part of these systems. In addition to millimeter-scale precision, microlocation technology offers the added ability to function well in various lighting conditions and functions well with many surgical drapes and other materials found in surgical rooms. With unique object identification, you have the ability to easily track, in real-time, each instrument, robotic assets, surgical table, etc. This millimeter-scale location information is critical for:

• Real Time Machine Positioning – location of the imaging machine relative to the patient/table throughout the procedure.
• Surgical Tool Tip Tracking / Navigation – understanding the position of surgical tools relative to the patient and/or a scanned image
• Surgical Tool Orientation – creating a plane that keeps the orientation of the tool in perfect location
• Relative Positioning – finding the optimal layout for efficient/ergonomic operations
• System of Record – Have a system of record of the interaction of all microlocation enabled assets throughout the procedure

In this presentation attendees will be provided with an update on recent developments in motion control technologies, applications, and products that are especially important for designers of medical analytical instruments and operating room equipment. The emphasis in this session will be on mobile, robotic, and patient therapy and treatment applications where new motion control solutions are being successfully applied to improve accuracy, enhance efficiency, and speed better outcomes. Prabh Gowrisankaran, VP of Engineering and Strategy at Performance Motion Devices, Inc. (PMD), will share his extensive experience in electronic motion control and will lead this discussion designed to be interesting for both engineers and medical practitioners alike.

This session is meant as a practical robotics engineer’s guide for integrating force-sensing for haptic force feedback into surgical robots, including general surgical, orthopedic, and catheter robotic systems. Robert Brooks, CEO, ForceN will describe how a robust, high fidelity digital “sense of touch” can be incorporated into haptic controllers, robotic control loops, or machine learning algorithms. He will provide attendees with everything robotics engineers must know to put together a robust, system-level force-sensing design for your surgical robotic system including:

What forces should you be sensing, how sensitively, and how fast for different instruments and surgical applications;
• How to avoid common issues including thermal changes (e.g. when instruments enter the body), intraoperative sensor drift, and overload protection;
• Best practices to design for serializability, disposable/non-disposable components, connectors, cabling, and communication protocols;
• Robotic setup including trocar remote center of motion, surgeon collaborative control, and sterilizable HMI options; and
• Some quick examples of recommended sensor arrangements