Towards the Development of a Tendon-Actuated Galvanometer for Endoscopic Surgical Laser Scanning

1Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science - Duke University - Durham, 2University of Louisville

Abstract

There is a need for precision pathological sensing, imaging, and tissue manipulation in neurosurgical procedures, such as brain tumor resection. Precise tumor margin identification and resection can prevent further growth and protect critical structures. Surgical lasers with small laser diameters and steering capabilities can allow for new minimally invasive procedures by traversing through complex anatomy, then providing energy to sense, visualize, and affect tissue. In this paper, we present the design of a small-scale tendon-actuated galvanometer (TAG) that can serve as an end-effector tool for a steerable surgical laser. The galvanometer sensor design, fabrication, and kinematic modeling are presented and derived. It can accurately rotate up to 30.14 ± 0.90° (or a laser reflection angle of 60.28°). A kinematic mapping of input tendon stroke to output galvanometer angle change and a forward-kinematics model relating the end of the continuum joint to the laser endpoint are derived and validated.

BibTeX

@misc{yamamoto2024developmenttendonactuatedgalvanometerendoscopic,
      title={Towards the Development of a Tendon-Actuated Galvanometer for Endoscopic Surgical Laser Scanning}, 
      author={Kent K. Yamamoto and Tanner J. Zachem and Behnam Moradkhani and Yash Chitalia and Patrick J. Codd},
      year={2024},
      eprint={2406.03605},
      archivePrefix={arXiv},
      primaryClass={cs.RO},
      url={https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.03605}, 
}