A cable‐driven soft robotic end‐effector actuator for probe‐based confocal laser endomicroscopy: Development and preclinical validation

Abstract

Soft robotics is becoming a popular choice for end‐effectors. An end‐effector was designed that has various advantages including ease of manufacturing, simplicity and control. This device may have the advantage of enabling probe‐based devices to intraoperatively measure cancer histology, because it can flexibly and gently position a probe perpendicularly over an area of delicate tissue. This is demonstrated in a neurosurgical setting where accurate cancer resection has been limited by lack of accurate visualisation and impaired tumour margin delineation with the need for in‐situ histology. Conventional surgical robotic end‐effectors are unsuitable to accommodate a probe‐based confocal laser endomicroscopy (p‐CLE) probe because of their rigid and non‐deformable properties, which can damage the thin probe. We have therefore designed a new soft robotic platform, which is advantageous by conforming to the probe's shape to avoid damage and to facilitate precision scanning.