DLR MiroSurge: a versatile system for research in endoscopic telesurgery.

PURPOSE: Research on surgical robotics demands systems for evaluating scientific approaches. Such systems can be divided into dedicated and versatile systems. Dedicated systems are designed for a single surgical task or technique, whereas versatile systems are designed to be expandable and useful in multiple surgical applications. Versatile systems are often based on industrial robots, though, and because of this, are hardly suitable for close contact with humans. METHOD: To achieve a high degree of versatility the Miro robotic surgery platform (MRSP) consists of versatile components, dedicated front-ends towards surgery and configurable interfaces for the surgeon. RESULTS: This paper presents MiroSurge, a configuration of the MRSP that allows for bimanual endoscopic telesurgery with force feedback. CONCLUSIONS: While the components of the MiroSurge system are shown to fulfil the rigid design requirements for robotic telesurgery with force feedback, the system remains versatile, which is supposed to be a key issue for the further development and optimisation.