Assessing Instrument Tool Shaft Design to Reduce Physiological Vibration Transmission

Abstract

Tele-operated robotic arm surgeries face many challenges that limit the achievable surgical
precision levels. One of them is the tremors arising due to the respiratory system and the heartbeat. The
objective of this study is to design and assess a new tool shaft, which will reduce the transmission of
physiological vibrations through the surgical instrument. This will enable improving the surgical precision
levels and simultaneously decreasing the errors arising from physiological vibration. The new design is
developed by embedding the Phononic Crystal structure (PCS) in the surgical tool shaft. Theoretical analysis
and experimental results presented here, compares the PCS tool shaft performance to the Conventional
surgical tool shaft.