Steerable drills have the potential to minimize the required dimensions of incisions in minimally invasive spine fusion (MISF). Existing steerable drills mostly rely on flexible continuum mechanisms to create distal tip steerability. However, due to their inherent compliance and underactuation, high stiffness and dexterity cannot be achieved at the same time, which limits their application. In this article, we present a ømm robotic steerable surgical drill offering high stiffness, strength, and dexterity, simultaneously. Contrary to existing flexible-transmission-based approaches, we use nonflexible transmissions (tendon-driven articulated joints and universal joints) to provide two distal degrees of freedom. To evaluate its performance, we integrated it with a customized tendon actuation platform for mechanical performance tests and the da Vinci Research Kit, as an exchangeable instrument, for robotic steerable drilling tests. The results of these tests showed that our drill had high strength, stiffness, accuracy, and drilling stability while preserving high steerability and was sufficient to complete hole drilling in confined space in MISF.

中文翻译：

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用于增强微创脊柱融合术中远端灵活性的微型机器人肌腱驱动关节手术钻的设计和实验验证

可转向钻有可能最小化微创脊柱融合术 (MISF) 中所需的切口尺寸。现有的可导向钻头主要依靠灵活的连续体机制来产生远侧尖端的可导向性。然而，由于它们固有的顺应性和欠驱动，不能同时实现高刚度和灵巧性，这限制了它们的应用。在本文中，我们展示了一种 ømm 机器人可操纵手术钻，同时具有高刚度、强度和灵巧性。与现有的基于柔性传动的方法相反，我们使用非柔性传动（肌腱驱动关节和万向节）来提供两个远端自由度。为了评估其性能，我们将其与用于机械性能测试的定制肌腱驱动平台和作为可互换仪器的达芬奇研究套件集成在一起，用于机器人可导向钻孔测试。这些测试的结果表明，我们的钻头具有高强度、刚度、精度和钻孔稳定性，同时保持了高转向性，足以在 MISF 的密闭空间内完成钻孔。