Bionic design of microjoint for minimally invasive surgical instrument

Abstract

We have succeeded in development of the microjoint for minimally invasive surgery based on bionic design like an insect leg. This microjoint is comprised of two materials which have different stiffness characteristics. First of all, we designed the microjoint based on analythical approach and determined the using of SU-8 and PDMS as materials of designed joint. The advantages of proposed microjoint are as follows: (1) Small (less than 2 mm), (2) Flexibility, (3) High I/O ratio, and (4) Biocompatibility. Through the basic experiment, we confirmed that the developed joint has a potential for application of endoscopic surgery such as Endoscopic Sub-mucosal Dissection (ESD).