Development and validation of a two-segment continuum robot for maxillary sinus surgery

Background Existing rigid instruments have difficulties in backward inspection and operation. Moreover, the pathway to the maxillary sinus is curved and narrow, resulting in complex and repetitive manual operations. There is a necessity to develop a retro-flexing robot and achieve path-following motion. Methods A continuum robotic system is developed for maxillary sinus surgery (MSS). And the system adopts an anatomical constraint-based optimization of the follow-the-leader strategy to generate a safe control scheme along a given path. Results The accuracy of the system is evaluated, and the task of reaching deep-seated targets is performed in a constrained anatomical space. The simulations and experiments of the path-following motion have validated the feasibility of the proposed method. Furthermore, a preliminary porcine study is performed to assess the capability of instruments. Conclusions The developed continuum robotic system can meet the requirements of MSS.