Articles

A Planar Follower Robot with an Eight-Camera Array for Surgical Assistance

Noriyasu IWAMOTO, Masataka TADOKORO, Yuji NISHIZAWA, Atsushi NISHIKAWA
JSCAS Special Issue, Advance Publication

Minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery is widely used because it reduces patient burden compared with open surgery, and robotic assistance has further improved surgical precision and ergonomics. However, conventional laparoscopy is limited by a narrow field of view, creating blind spots that can lead to perioperative complications. To overcome this limitation, we developed a planar follower robot equipped with multiple cameras to provide multi-angle intra-abdominal visualization. The system integrates an field programmable gate array (FPGA)-based multi-camera transmission board capable of transmitting eight video streams at 30 fps, together with a leader-follower mechanism that enables intuitive shape control of the planar robot. Experimental evaluation showed that all eight camera feeds were acquired stably for more than 8 hours, with an inter-camera delay of approximately 10 ms and an end-to-end latency of 230 ms. In a laparoscopic training box, real-time viewpoint adjustment with the leader device allowed visualization of forceps tips and hidden regions that are not visible with a conventional laparoscope. These results demonstrate that the system can flexibly adjust camera perspectives and reduce blind spots, supporting both surgeon-operated and robot-controlled procedures. Although the current prototype remains limited by camera configuration and insertion size, this study establishes the feasibility and potential utility of a planar multi-camera robot for enhancing intraoperative visualization.

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