Development of a Tele-Surgical Training Robot and Simulator

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We are working on a project titled “Development of a Tele-Surgical Training Robot and Simulator” in collaboration with Holy Family Hospital, Islamabad, Pakistan, funded by National ICT R&D Fund. Currently our project is first stage of development which is Analysis and Desing. The following diagram explains the basic concept of our research

Executive Summary

Surgical robots have gained popularity recently due to the introduction of robots that can perform minimal invasive procedures as well as surgeries from remote locations. The primary goal of this project is to develop a low cost tele-surgical robot and simulator for training of physicians. The basic requirement for such a project in Pakistan is to develop an environment where robots can be utilized in the field of medicine to perform minimally invasive surgeries. Such robots are usually not easy to use in the beginning as they require extensive hands-on training before being used on actual human patients. Therefore training systems and simulators are required that can provide the surgeons with enough expertise before any real life surgical operation.

This project aims to develop a training system consisting of a Surgical Training Robot and a Simulator. This training system will initially serve the means to develop an environment where surgeons will become experienced with the use of robots for surgeries. As a first step skills will be acquired in this field by surgeons through training in MIS and by ICT experts through designing and developing robots and software in this field. Accordingly human resource and support systems to perform minimal invasive surgery procedures from remote locations in Pakistan will be created.
The proposed robot will be a combination of hardware and software systems, utilizing skills and techniques in areas of robotics, image processing, computer game development and control systems. The simulator will be developed using open source technology used in game development, while the hardware of the training robot will be developed using parts that are easily available off the shelf. This will be an integration of different technologies in the area of robotics and software development. One of its advantages will be its user friendly application software and it’s easy to use hardware controls. Both these features shall help in trainees getting used to the system more easily and in quick time rather than handling difficult and hard to remember controls.

The simulator will run in two modes; Offline mode and online mode. In offline mode it will only act as a simulator by displaying a virtual environment with 3-d images of organs and operational procedures. Online mode will allow the user to control an actual robot while the real imagery will be displayed from the robotic image acquisition device. Online mode could be used with the robot in close proximity or at a remote location.

The main value proposition of this project is that by creating synergy between knowledge of expert surgeons, expert computer engineers and low cost hardware components created for video gaming industry extremely valuable training systems for minimal invasive surgery can be created in the short term. This expertise can be further nurtured to develop high quality minimal invasive surgery systems in Pakistan at low cost and deploy these systems throughout Pakistan thus creating an ecosystem that improves health care while generating significant R&D activities, foster innovation, create job opportunities and lead to wealth generation.
The key benefits of this project are given below:

  • A low cost simulator and training robot will allow the development of quality human resource and set the precedent for development of robotics in the health sector in Pakistan.
  • The robotic system being developed focuses on intelligent software technology for control of the robotic system rather than developing expensive hardware, making it cheap to develop at the same time not compromising on precision and accuracy.
  • Once these training robots are deployed at rural and urban training centers, surgeons can acquire robotic and laparoscopic surgical skills in their hometowns instead of moving to urban areas.
  • These surgeons are trained they can work in their own rural areas, solving the problem of unavailability skilled doctors in rural areas.

Core Team Details :

The following people are currently involved with the project

Dr Osman Hasan Asst. Professor (SEECS, NUST) - Project Director

Dr Asif Zafar (MD) (Holy Family Hospital, Rawalpindi) - Co-Project Director

Dr Muddassar Malik, Asst. Professor (SEECS, NUST)

Dr Kamran Iqbal (University of Arkansas Little Rock) - Co-Advisor

Shamyl Bin Mansoor Lecturer, (SEECS, NUST) - Project Coordinator / Manager

Abdul Afram (Dept. of EE) - Lecturer (SEECS)

Zaheer Mukhtar, Software Engineer

Technical Progress Reports:

Current Reports : NiL

For Project Proposal: Click Here

Project Deliverables

Year 1: Analysis and Design            
Year 2: Development
Year 3: Testing & Deployment

 

WP1  Work Package 1 (HR, Equipment and Initial Design Study)

 

3 months
  1. Mobilization of Team (Hiring and Team Selection)

 
  1. Selection and procurement of initial development tools and hardware

 

MS 1  : Hiring / Team Mobilization Complete

D1    : Hiring Report / Project commencement report

 

 

WP2  Work Package 2 (Literature Study and Utilization Plan)

 

3 months
  1. Literature Review (Simulator Team)
    1. Studying available open source simulators and libraries

 
  1. Literature Review (Haptic UI Team)
    1. Surveying designs for haptic user interfaces for Input controls

 
  1. Literature Review (Surgical Robot Team)
    1. Studying existing surgical robot designs
  2. Utilization Plan Study
    1. Developing a detailed utilization plan for the utilization of the developed technology
  3. Developing a tentative design of the system

 

MS 2 : Literature Survey Complete

D2.1  : Literature Review Document of each team

D2.2  : Detailed Utilization Plan

D2.2  : Tentative Design Document of the System

 

 

WP3  Work Package 3 (Analysis)

 

3 months
  1. Software Requirement Specification Document (Simulator and Surgical Teams)
    1. SRS for Simulator
    2. SRS for GUI and Network Module
    3. Will be developed by Surgical and Simulator Design Teams

 
  1. Software Requirement Specification Document (Haptic UI Team)
    1. SRS for input controls, will include requirements for core software module of input controls and interface module for interfacing with other parts of the system
    2. Will be developed by haptic controls and surgical teams

 
  1. Software Requirement Specification Document for Surgical Robot (Surgical Robot Team)
    1. SRS for Real Time OS running on the main control board of the robot. This will also include FPGA requirements for development as well.
    2. This document will include the design of software that is required for the robotic manipulators
    3. Will be developed by Manipulator design team in collaboration with all other teams

 

MS 3  : Analysis Complete

D3    : SRS Documents of each team

 

 

WP4  Work Package 4 (Design)

 

3 months
  1. Software Design Document (Simulator Development Team)
    1. Overall design and architecture of simulator will be included in the design document. It will also include details of all modules to be developed in the simulator
    2. A separate design document will be developed by the network module development team. This will list the design of the network communication model of the system

 
  1. Mechanical Design Document (Haptic UI Team)
    1. Design of the input controls will be included in this document. It will also include design of interface circuitry required for interfacing with other parts of the system (simulator and robotic manipulators)

 
  1. Mechanical Design Document (Surgical Robot Team)
    1. Overall mechanical design of the robotic manipulators will be included in this document. CAD diagrams of the structure will be included as well as identification of parts will be done that will be used in the development

 

MS 4    : Initial Design Complete

D4.1     : Design documents of each team

D4.2     : Detailed Design Document of the System

 

 

WP5  Work Package 5 (Development Stage 1)

 

3 months                   

  1. Simulator Development
    1. Physics Engine Development (Core Design)
    2. Network Interface module development

 
  1. Haptic UI hardware development
    1. Prototype 1.0 User Interface Hardware with embedded control software

 
  1. Robotic Manipulators development
    1. The robotic arms will be fabricated and the first prototype will be developed. This hardware will have basic control movements.

 

MS 5   : Prototype Development Complete

D5     : Development Reports, Simulation Software (Initial Phase), Prototypes of Haptic UI Controls and Surgical Robotic Arms

 

 

WP6  Work Package 6 (Development Stage 2)

 

3 months
  1. Simulator Development
    1. Soft Tissue Modeling will be done to simulate the internal body organs and blood flow.

 
  1. Haptic UI hardware
    1. Interface module will be developed that will allow the input controls to be used with the simulator application as well as the robotic manipulators.

 
  1. Robotic Manipulators development
    1. The end-effectors will be developed and integrated with the robotic arms.
    2. Network interface module to be integrated with embedded control software of robotic manipulators

 

MS 6   : Prototype Development Complete

D6     : Development Reports, Simulation Software (Secondary Phase), Prototypes of Haptic UI Controls and Surgical Robotic End-Effectors

 

 

WP7  Work Package 7 (Development Stage 3)

 

3 months
  1. Simulator Development
    1. Front End Application Design and haptic input control interface module development
    2. Integration and testing of network interface module with front end application

 
  1. Haptic UI hardware
    1. Haptic User Interface controls will be integrated with simulator application and tested

 
  1. Robotic Manipulators
    1. Software for control of robotic arms and end-effectors will be written for controlling the fine movements of the end-effectors
    2. The movements of the end-effectors will be refined based on input from surgical design team

 

MS 7   : Prototype Development Complete

D7     : Development Reports and Demonstrations of Simulator Application, Haptic UI controls and Robotic Manipulators movement

 

 

WP8  Work Package 8 (Internal Modular Integration)

 

3 months
  1. Simulator Application
    1. Integration of physics engine module, soft tissue simulation module, GUI module and network interface module

 
  1. Robotic Manipulators
    1. Integration of different robotic arms with the main  embedded software robot controller application
    2. Integration of network software module with embedded software robot controller application

 

MS 8   : Completion of Modular Integration

D8     : Demonstration of Individual Modules of the System (Simulator Application and  Haptic UI Controls with Robotic Manipulator Control)

 

 

WP9  Work Package 9 (Integration of System Modules)

 

3 months
  1. Integration of Modules
    1. Integration of Simulator Application with Haptic Interface Module
    2. Integration of Robotic Manipulators with Haptic Interface Module
    3. Integration of Simulator Application with Robotic Manipulators

 

MS 9   : Integration Complete

D9     : Integration Report and Demonstration of the system with all modules integrated

 

 

WP10  Work Package 10 (Integration Testing)

 

3 months
  1. Integration Testing of Modules
    1. Integration testing of Simulator Application with haptic interface module
    2. Integration testing of Robot Control Application with haptic interface module
    3. Integration testing of Simulator Application with offline and online control (with Robotic Manipulators)

 

MS 10   : Integration Testing Complete

D10     : Integration Test Report

 

 

WP11  Work Package 11 (Network Testing)

 

3 months
  1. Network Testing of all modules
    1. Testing of Robotic Manipulators over a network
    2. Testing of Haptic Controls over a network link
    3. Testing of Robotic Manipulators Control over wired and wireless links

 

MS 11   : Network Testing Complete

D11     : Network Test and Evaluation Report and Demonstration at Holy Family Hospital

 

 

WP12  Work Package 12 (Deployment and Documentation Release)

 

3 months
  1. Final Testing and Deployment

 
  1. Training Sessions and Workshops

 

MS 12   : Deployment and Documentation Release

D12     : Workshop and Introductory Seminar