Neurosurgical retraction is a procedure that involves displacing brain tissue (i.e., to expose cancerous lesions). Current tools for retraction are mostly made of stainless steel and create localized regions of pressure. These tool-tissue interactions can be harmful and lead to postoperative complications. Research on soft robots is rapidly expanding due to their ability to safely interact with human tissue. Using principles of morphological computation, origami-inspired folding patterns have been developed to control the behavior of soft robots. However, for delicate brain tissue-tool interaction, greater control through the integration of soft sensing is required by surgeons.
This work presents a pressure-actuated, origami-inspired soft robot with integrated sensing for measuring force during neurosurgical retraction procedures. The robot employs a circular Miura-origami (Miura-ori) pattern, creating well-defined contraction and expansion ratios. To embed a sensing modality in the robot, individual origami unit cells are modified to become flexible capacitors. These flexible Origami Sensing Modules (OSMs) change in capacitance when force is applied due to the displacement of capacitive plates. Surgeons can therefore monitor the procedure to ensure that dangerous levels of force are not exceeded. The OSM is fabricated using a layering technique that embeds a fluidic stiffening actuator within an elastomer dielectric. Thin copper films, which form the capacitive plates, sandwich this dielectric layer. Three OSMs, connected in series, are integrated into the circular Miura-ori pattern at evenly spaced locations.
The force range and sensitivity of the OSMs are analyzed through force and motion characterization experiments which give an indication of the capacitive behavior during force application and actuation of the robot. Finally, an in-vitro setup was developed to model the retraction process in the brain and demonstrate the robot’s ability to retract brain tissue and sense the distributed forces. The development of this sensing mechanism allows for both monitoring and controlling the pressure on brain tissue during robotic retraction, demonstrating the potential of soft robots in neurosurgery. / 2025-08-29T00:00:00Z
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/46639 |
| Date | 30 August 2023 |
| Creators | Wang, Catherine |
| Contributors | Russo, Sheila |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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