Non-Assembly Additive Manufacturing of Medical Devices

Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, offers a new paradigm for the way functional products are designed, manufactured, and assembled. Its additive nature provides the ability to create complex-shaped parts, without an increase in production time or costs, which would be difficult to produce with conventional manufacturing. In addition,...

Six smart guidelines for high-tech manufacture on low-tech 3D printers: the case of the 3Flex

While articulated surgical instruments have enabled the proliferation of minimally invasive interventions, procedures such as laparo-endoscopic single-site surgery are waning in popularity. One potential reason for this decline is a lack of sufficiently dexterous instruments. Although multi-steerable instruments exist, these are often complex...

A Fully 3D-Printed Steerable Instrument for Minimally Invasive Surgery

In the field of medical instruments, additive manufacturing allows for a drastic reduction in the number of components while improving the functionalities of the final design. In addition, modifications for users’ needs or specific procedures become possible by enabling the production of single customized items. In this work, we present the...

Mechanical Follow-the-Leader motion of a hyper-redundant surgical instrument: Proof-of-concept prototype and first tests

One of the most prominent drivers in the development of surgical procedures is the will to reduce their invasiveness, attested by minimally invasive surgery being the gold standards in many surgical procedures and natural orifices transluminal endoscopic surgery gaining acceptance. A logical next step in this pursuit is the introduction of...

The MemoSlide: An explorative study into a novel mechanical follow-the-leader mechanism

Follow-the-leader propagation allows for the insertion of flexible surgical instruments along curved paths, reducing the access required for natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery. Currently, the most promising follow-the-leader instruments use the alternating memory method containing two mechanical memory-banks for controlling the...

Where are my instruments? Hazards in delivery of surgical instruments

Background Unavailability of instruments is recognised to cause delays and stress in the operating room, which can lead to additional risks for the patients. The aim was to provide an overview of the hazards in the entire delivery process of surgical instruments and to provide insight into how Information Technology (IT) could support this...

Simple Tools for Surgeons: Design and Evaluation of mechanical alternatives for robotic instruments for Minimally Invasive Surgery

Performing complex tasks in Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) is demanding due to a disturbed hand-eye co-ordination, the application of non-ergonomic instruments with limited number of degrees of freedom (DOFs) and the two-dimensional (2D) view controlled by the surgical assistance. Robotic camera holders and tele-manipulatory systems enhance...

Grasping Safely: Instruments for bowel manipulation investigated