The goal of this project is to design and prototype a dextrous robot hand (?10 mm in size) for minimally invasive surgery. This type of hand, teleoperated by a surgeon, would assist in performing diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Phase I of the project will focus on developing hydraulic actuators for use in the hand. We will employ techniques adapted from micro- electromechanical systems (MEMS) for eventual batch fabrication of miniature actuators, as well as the hand itself. In Phase II, we will integrate these into a surgical workstation with a man- machine interface consisting of sensory gloves worn by the surgeon. The system will be tested with our medical partners at the University of California, San Francisco. Dextrous, low-cost millimeter-scale manipulators would have a wide variety of applications in minimally invasive surgery, including suturing, dissection, and retraction, in procedures such as removal of the gall bladder and bowel resection. Such a technology would could also be adapted to arthroscopic and atheroscopic applications.
