open source software/hardware: github.com/BerkeleyAutomation/sprk.
Anatomical structures are rarely static during a surgical procedure due to breathing, heartbeats, and peristaltic movements. To simulate these body organ motions, we designed a low-cost, miniaturized SPRK (Stewart Platform Research Kit) to translate and rotate phantom tissue. This platform fits in the workspace of a da Vinci Research Kit (DVRK) surgical robot The platform has motion modes for sinusoidal motion, breathing-inspired motion, and multi-axis motion. Modular mounts facilitated pattern cutting and debridement experiments. Inspired by observing an expert surgeon, we proposed an intermittent synchronization with the extrema of the rhythmic motion (i.e., the lowest velocity windows). We performed this approach on pattern cutting and debridement and found that the intermittent synchronization approach, while slower than tracking motion, is significantly more robust to noise and control latency for both the experiments.
