CN111761609B - Flexible continuum robot based on contact-assisted structure - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a flexible continuum robot based on a contact auxiliary structure, which comprises a tail end deflection part (1), a conduit part (2) and a driving module (3); the driving module (3) is connected with the tail end deflection part (1) through the guide pipe part (2); wherein the tip deflecting section (1) comprises: the flexible mechanical arm comprises a flexible mechanical arm body (11), a tail end deflection part driving assembly (12) and an imaging assembly (13); the tail end deflection part driving assembly (12) is assembled outside the mechanical arm body (11); the imaging assembly (13) is arranged inside the mechanical arm body (11). The flexible continuum robot for the alimentary canal early cancer diagnosis and treatment is designed based on a contact auxiliary structure, is made of a superelastic nickel-titanium alloy tube, transmits power through a driving wire, and can overcome the defects that the existing flexible instrument is difficult to miniaturize, the space of a middle working channel is small, the tensile and torsion resistance performance is poor, a tail end deflection mechanism has return difference, no framework and the like.

Description

Flexible continuum robot based on contact-assisted structure

technical field

The invention relates to the technical field of flexible continuum robots, in particular to a flexible continuum robot based on a contact auxiliary structure.

Background technique

At present, early cancer of the digestive tract is difficult to diagnose and find, and the tumor margin is difficult to define, which is a major clinical problem in the diagnosis and treatment of digestive tract diseases. Optical biopsy technology can achieve high-resolution microscopic imaging of living bodies. Inaccurate probe control is a bottleneck limiting the clinical application of endoscopy.

The wire-driven flexible continuum robot has the characteristics of compact size, multiple degrees of freedom, and long-distance transmission. The flexible and long continuum robot can intervene in the human digestive tract through the endoscopic surgical platform, and scan by driving the probe to achieve large-area microscopic imaging. After the diagnosis of early cancer, submucosal surgery can be performed, which can realize the integrated operation of diagnosis and treatment of early cancer of the digestive tract. This type of flexible surgical robot is divided into a catheter part and an end deflection part, wherein the traditional catheter part is made of a flexible multi-lumen tube, which has the function of carrying a driving wire and transmitting force. The end deflection part is mostly a traditional hinged snake-bone continuum mechanism, which completes the multi-degree-of-freedom bending of the end by stretching and shrinking the wire. For multi-lumen tubes below 3mm, it is very difficult to manufacture multi-lumen tubes with a large ratio of inner and outer diameters due to the limitation of wall thickness. But the large lumen in the middle of the robot is necessary to access components such as imaging probes or biopsy forceps drive wires. In addition, the existing end snake-bone continuum has many problems, such as large hysteresis, difficult to manufacture, small working channel, and no skeleton itself.

Precision laser cutting of thin-walled superelastic nickel-titanium alloy tubes can produce a flexible continuum robot with a large inner cavity. The superelastic nickel-titanium alloy material has a small elastic modulus and can withstand recoverable strains an order of magnitude higher than traditional metal materials. The mechanism based on this material has its own skeleton, which is more flexible, does not require additional skeleton elements such as springs, and has excellent fatigue strength. Based on this, previous scholars have proposed a flexible mechanism with a rectangular notch topology, which has the disadvantage of poor tensile and torsional performance, that is, poor strength and stability; Kinematic modeling introduces errors.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a flexible continuum robot based on a contact auxiliary structure in view of the technical defects existing in the prior art.

To this end, the present invention provides a flexible continuum robot based on a contact auxiliary structure, which includes an end deflection part, a catheter part and a driving module;

The driving module is connected with the end deflection part through the conduit part;

Wherein, the end deflection part includes: a flexible manipulator body, a drive assembly of the end deflection part, and an imaging assembly;

The end deflection part drive assembly is assembled outside the manipulator body;

The imaging assembly is installed inside the robotic arm body.

Wherein, the flexible manipulator body is a nickel-titanium tube, the flexible manipulator body has a plurality of manipulator body flexible joints distributed at equal intervals, and one end of the drive module away from the flexible manipulator body has an end interface;

Multiple flexible joints of the manipulator body are made of laser-cut nickel-titanium tubes.

Wherein, the end interface is provided with four notches at equal intervals along the circumferential direction of the end of the flexible manipulator body.

Wherein, the drive assembly of the end deflection part includes a plurality of guide wire discs and four drive wires;

The end face of the godet has four small holes and one large hole;

Among them, four small holes are evenly distributed at equal intervals along the circumference of the end face of the godet, which are used to guide and support the four driving wires;

Among them, a large hole is located in the middle of the wire guide plate, and forms a close fit with the outer wall of the flexible joint of the manipulator body in the flexible manipulator body.

Among them, any two adjacent wire guide discs are installed on the outer wall of the flexible manipulator body with the flexible joint of a single manipulator body as the interval;

The four driving wires pass through the four small holes on the end face of the guide wire disc respectively to form a clearance fit.

Wherein, the imaging component includes a flexible optical fiber image bundle and a jacket;

Wherein, the flexible optical fiber image bundle includes a distal probe, an image bundle body and a proximal lens;

The distal probe is fixedly connected with the inner hole of the jacket;

The jacket is connected with the end interface in the flexible manipulator body to form a tight fit.

Wherein, the conduit portion includes a conduit portion body;

The body of the catheter part is a nickel-titanium tube, and the body of the catheter part has a plurality of flexible joints of the catheter part distributed at equal intervals;

The outer wall of the body of the catheter part is provided with a plurality of guide wire discs at equal intervals;

Wherein, between any two adjacent wire guide discs, there are five flexible joints of the catheter part;

Among them, the end face of the godet has four small holes and one large hole;

Among them, four small holes are evenly distributed at equal intervals along the circumference of the end face of the godet, which are used to guide and support the four driving wires;

Among them, a large hole is located in the middle of the guide wire tray, and forms a close fit with the outer wall of the flexible joint of the catheter part in the catheter part body.

Wherein, the drive module includes a drive module support structure, a linear slide table group and a godet wheel group;

Wherein, the linear slide table group and the godet wheel group are installed on the support structure of the drive module;

The linear slide table group consists of four groups, which are respectively connected with one end of a driving wire and provide linear displacement for the four driving wires respectively.

Among them, each linear slide group includes: rotating motor, lead screw, nut, slider, guide rail and bearing;

Wherein, the rotating motor, the guide rail and the bearing are fixed on the drive module support structure;

The nut is fixedly connected with the slider;

There is a thread hole on the nut for fixing the drive wire.

It can be seen from the above technical solutions provided by the present invention that, compared with the prior art, the present invention provides a flexible continuum robot based on a contact auxiliary structure, as a flexible continuum robot for early cancer diagnosis and treatment for the digestive tract, including The end deflection part, the catheter part and the driving module of the flexible access endoscopic surgical operating platform, the flexible robot is designed based on the contact-assisted structure, made of super-elastic nickel-titanium alloy tube, and transmits power through the driving wire, which can overcome the existing flexible instruments. It is difficult to miniaturize, the middle working channel space is small, the tensile and torsional performance is poor, the end deflection mechanism has hysteresis, no skeleton and other shortcomings, which has great practical significance in production.

The invention is a flexible continuum robot with small diameter, high processing and manufacturing efficiency, and excellent mechanical properties such as tensile and torsional resistance.

Description of drawings

1 is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of a flexible continuum robot based on a contact auxiliary structure provided by the present invention;

Fig. 2a is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the end deflection part in the flexible continuum robot based on the contact auxiliary structure provided by the present invention;

Fig. 2b is a schematic exploded view of the three-dimensional structure of the end deflection part in the flexible continuum robot based on the contact auxiliary structure provided by the present invention;

3a is a schematic structural diagram of a flexible manipulator body in the flexible continuum robot based on a contact auxiliary structure provided by the present invention;

3b is a schematic three-dimensional structural diagram of the flexible continuum robot based on the contact auxiliary structure provided by the present invention, when the flexible joints of the manipulator body are distributed on the flexible manipulator body;

3c is a schematic structural diagram of a flexible joint of a single manipulator body with a rectangular beam structure in a flexible continuum robot based on a contact auxiliary structure provided by the present invention;

3d is a schematic structural diagram of the flexible joint of a single manipulator body with a rectangular beam structure after deflection in the flexible continuum robot based on the contact auxiliary structure provided by the present invention;

Figure 3e is a schematic structural diagram of a flexible joint of a single manipulator body with a curvature beam structure in the flexible continuum robot based on a contact auxiliary structure provided by the present invention

4a is a schematic diagram of the exploded structure of the godet and the driving wire in the flexible continuum robot based on the contact auxiliary structure provided by the present invention;

Fig. 4b is a schematic structural diagram of an imaging component in the flexible continuum robot based on a contact auxiliary structure provided by the present invention;

5a is a schematic structural diagram of the overall structure of the catheter portion in the flexible continuum robot based on the contact auxiliary structure provided by the present invention;

Fig. 5b is a schematic structural diagram of a single conduit portion flexible joint included in the overall structure of the conduit portion in the flexible continuum robot based on a contact assist structure provided by the present invention, that is, an enlarged schematic diagram of a single conduit portion flexible joint in part A shown in Fig. 5a ;

Figure 5c is an enlarged schematic view of part B shown in Figure 5b;

6 is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the drive module in the flexible continuum robot based on the contact auxiliary structure provided by the present invention;

7 is a schematic structural diagram of a linear slide group in the flexible continuum robot based on the contact auxiliary structure provided by the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a godet wheel group in the flexible continuum robot based on the contact auxiliary structure provided by the present invention;

In the figure: 1 is the end deflection part; 2 is the catheter part; 3 is the drive module;

11 is the flexible manipulator body; 12 is the end deflection part driving assembly; 13 is the imaging assembly;

101 is the flexible joint of the manipulator; 102 is the end interface; 103 is the wire guide; 104 is the driving wire; 105 is the flexible optical fiber beam; 106 is the jacket; 1011 is the flexible hinge of the manipulator;

1012 is the first main contact auxiliary structure, 1013 is the second main contact auxiliary structure, 1014 is the third main contact auxiliary structure, and 1015 is the fourth main contact auxiliary structure;

1016 is the secondary contact auxiliary structure;

21 is the main body of the catheter; 201 is the flexible joint of the catheter; 2011 is the flexible hinge of the catheter;

31 is a drive module support structure; 32 is a linear slide table group; 33 is a godet wheel group;

301 is a rotating motor; 302 is a screw rod; 303 is a nut; 304 is a slider; 305 is a guide rail; 306 is a bearing;

Detailed ways

In order to make the technical means realized by the present invention easier to understand, the present application will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the related application, but not to limit the application. In addition, it should be noted that, for the convenience of description, only the parts related to the present application are shown in the drawings.

It should be noted that the embodiments in the present application and the features of the embodiments may be combined with each other in the case of no conflict. The present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and in conjunction with the embodiments.

It should be noted that in the description of this application, the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inner", "outer", etc. The terminology of the indicated direction or positional relationship is based on the direction or positional relationship shown in the drawings, which is only for convenience of description and does not indicate or imply that the device or element must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation , so it cannot be construed as a limitation on this application.

In addition, it should be noted that, in the description of this application, unless otherwise expressly specified and limited, the term "installation" and the like should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it may be a fixed installation or a detachable installation. The "fit" can be a mechanical fit, or it can be bonded or welded to form a bond.

For those skilled in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in this application can be understood according to specific situations.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 8 , the present invention provides a flexible continuum robot based on a contact-assisted structure, and the end of the robot can cooperate with tools such as flexible optical fiber imaging bundles, surgical forceps, electric knives, etc. to perform diagnostic and therapeutic operations. In this embodiment, the end of the robot is equipped with a flexible optical fiber image bundle.

In the present invention, the flexible continuum robot of the present invention includes an end deflection part 1, a catheter part 2 and a driving module 3;

The drive module 3 is connected to the tip deflection portion 1 through the conduit portion 2 .

In the present invention, one end of the conduit portion 2 is fixedly connected with the end deflection portion 1 or directly processed into a whole, and the other end is connected with the drive module 3, thereby connecting the end deflection portion 1 and the drive module 3 as a whole.

It should be noted that, for the robot of the present invention, it can be applied to the diagnosis and treatment operation through the natural orifice, especially the diagnosis and treatment of early cancer of the digestive tract.

In the present invention, in terms of specific implementation, the end deflection unit 1 includes: a flexible manipulator body 11 for realizing the pitching degree of freedom R1 and the yaw degree of freedom R2, the end deflection unit driving assembly 12 and the imaging assembly 13;

The end deflection part driving assembly 12 is assembled outside the manipulator body 11;

The imaging assembly 13 is installed inside the manipulator body 11 .

In terms of specific implementation, the flexible manipulator body 11 is a nickel-titanium tube, and the flexible manipulator body 11 has a plurality of (ie a series) flexible joints 101 of the manipulator body distributed at equal intervals, and a drive module away from the flexible manipulator body 11 One end of 3 has an end interface 102;

In terms of specific implementation, a plurality (ie, a series of) flexible joints 101 of the manipulator body are processed by laser cutting nickel-titanium tubes.

It should be noted that, for the present invention, the flexible joint 101 of the manipulator body and the end interface 102 are formed by removing part of the material of the superelastic flexible manipulator body 11 (ie, the nickel-titanium tube) by laser, and are naturally formed from the unremoved material. connected to form an integral structure that does not require assembly.

For specific implementation, as shown in FIG. 3 a , the end interface 102 is provided with four notches at equal intervals of 90 degrees along the circumferential direction of the end of the flexible manipulator body 11 .

In terms of specific implementation, as shown in FIG. 3b, the flexible joint 101 of the manipulator body is composed of the flexible hinge 1011 of the manipulator body, a pair of first main contact auxiliary structures 1012, a pair of second main contact auxiliary structures 1013, and a pair of third main contact The auxiliary structure 1014 , a pair of fourth main contact auxiliary structures 1015 and a pair of secondary contact auxiliary structures 1016 are composed.

It should be noted that the topological structure of the flexible joints 101 of the manipulator body is symmetrically designed, and the flexible manipulator body 11 (that is, the nickel-titanium tube) is alternately arrayed equidistantly in two orthogonal directions along the central axis of the flexible manipulator body 11 (ie, the nickel-titanium tube). Provides the pitch degree of freedom R1 and the yaw degree of freedom R2. The structure of the flexible hinge 1011 of the manipulator body is a rectangular beam structure or a curvature beam structure.

In terms of specific implementation, the beam structure and deflection angle can be selected to determine the peak strain ε _max of the beam after being driven and deflected, and the peak strain can be solved by finite element engineering structural analysis. The institutional design guidelines are as follows:

ε _max ≤ε _allow ;

ε _allow represents the allowable strain recommended by the manufacturer of superelastic nitinol tubing. ε _max is the calculated maximum strain after the flexible hinge 1011 is bent to the maximum angle (wherein, allow means allow; max means maximum).

For the present invention, in terms of specific implementation, a single manipulator body flexible joint 101 has five pairs of contact auxiliary structures. It includes four pairs of main contact auxiliary structures (ie, the first main contact auxiliary structure 1012 to the fourth main contact auxiliary structure 1015 ), and a pair of secondary contact auxiliary structures 1016 .

In terms of specific implementation, the gap between the first main contact auxiliary structure 1012 , the second main contact auxiliary structure 1013 , the third main contact auxiliary structure 1014 and the fourth main contact auxiliary structure 1015 is 20 μm. It should be noted that the gap value can be selected according to the current limit value of laser processing. The smaller the value is, the more accurate the movement of the mechanism is.

It should be noted that the four pairs of main contact auxiliary structures are used to provide three physical constraints for the flexible hinge, including deflection, torsion and tensile constraints. A pair of secondary contact assist structures 1016 are used to provide a deflection stop for the deflected mechanism, forming a physical constraint that prevents the material strain from continuing to increase.

In terms of specific implementation, referring to Fig. 3c and Fig. 3d, the maximum pitch or yaw angle after the deflection of the flexible joint 101 of a single manipulator body is α, then the maximum pitch or yaw angle α after the deflection of a single flexible joint must meet the following conditions:

α<β _a , α<β _b ;

Among them, β _a and β _b represent the angle between the two contacts.

And, the calculation formula of the maximum rotation angle of the end deflection part formed by n flexible joints in the yaw or pitch direction is as follows:

α _sum = n · α;

Among them, α _sum is the total deflection angle of the end deflection part formed by n flexible joints. α is the maximum pitch or yaw angle after the deflection of the flexible joint 101 of the single manipulator body, and the meaning of Sum is the sum.

Referring to Fig. 3e, Fig. 3e is another flexible hinge structure of a single flexible joint with a curvature beam structure provided by the present invention, and this structure has different stiffness, fatigue life, and strain size than the straight beam structure after being driven to bend. and distribution.

In the present invention, in terms of specific implementation, as shown in FIG. 4a, the end deflection portion driving assembly 12 includes a plurality of (ie, a series of) wire guide discs 103 and four driving wires 104;

The end face of the godet 103 is provided with four small holes 1031 and one large hole 1032;

Among them, the four small holes 1031 are evenly distributed at 90-degree equal intervals along the circumference of the end face of the godet 103, and are used to guide and support the four driving wires 104;

Among them, a large hole 1032 is located in the middle of the wire guide plate 103 , and forms a close fit with the outer wall of the flexible joint 101 of the manipulator body in the flexible manipulator body 11 .

In terms of specific implementation, any two adjacent wire guide discs 103 are installed on the flexible manipulator arm with a single flexible joint 101 of the manipulator body as the distance (that is, there is a manipulator body flexible joint 101 between the two wire guide discs 103 ). The outer wall of the body 11;

The four driving wires 104 respectively pass through the four small holes 1031 on the end face of the wire godet 103 to form a clearance fit.

It should be noted that, according to the present invention, the end of the driving wire 104 is knotted to provide a driving force to form an obstacle when the wire is pulled.

In the present invention, in terms of specific implementation, as shown in FIG. 4b, the imaging assembly 13 includes a flexible optical fiber image bundle 105 and a jacket 106;

The flexible optical fiber image bundle 105 includes a distal probe 1051, an image bundle body 1052 and a proximal lens 1053;

The distal probe 1051 is fixedly connected with the inner hole of the jacket 106;

The jacket 106 is connected with the end interface 102 in the flexible manipulator body 11 to form a tight fit.

In the present invention, in terms of specific implementation, as shown in FIGS. 5 a , 5 b and 5 c , the conduit portion 2 includes a conduit portion body 21 ;

The catheter body 21 is a nickel-titanium tube (it is the same nickel-titanium tube as the flexible manipulator body 11, which is integrally formed), and the catheter body 21 has a plurality of (ie a series) catheter flexible joints 201 distributed at equal intervals. ;

On the outer wall of the main body 21 of the catheter part, a plurality of guide wire discs 103 are installed at equal intervals;

There are five conduit part flexible joints 201 between any two adjacent wire guide discs 103 ; that is, any two adjacent wire guide discs 103 are spaced by five conduit part flexible joints 201 .

Among them, four small holes 1031 and one large hole 1032 are opened on the end face of the godet 103;

Among them, the four small holes 1031 are evenly distributed at 90-degree equal intervals along the circumference of the end face of the godet 103, and are used to guide and support the four driving wires 104;

Among them, a large hole 1032 is located in the middle of the guide wire tray 103 and forms a close fit with the outer wall of the catheter part flexible joint 201 in the catheter part body 21 .

It should be noted that the conduit part body 21 includes a conduit part flexible joint 201 , and the conduit part flexible joint 201 is similar in topology to the manipulator body flexible joint 101 in the flexible manipulator body 11 , and also includes a flexible hinge and a contact auxiliary structure. The contact auxiliary structure is exactly the same, except that the flexible hinge 2011 of the conduit part is wider and more rigid than the flexible hinge 1011 of the manipulator body.

It should be noted that the flexible hinge structure of the conduit portion 2 can also adopt a rectangular beam structure or a beam structure with curvature.

In the present invention, in terms of specific implementation, as shown in FIG. 6 , the drive module 3 includes a drive module support structure 31, a linear slide table group 32 (ie, a rotary motor linear displacement slide table group) and a godet wheel group 33;

Wherein, the linear slide table group 32 and the godet wheel group 33 are installed on the drive module support structure 31;

The linear slide table groups 32 are composed of four groups, which are respectively connected with one end of a driving wire 104 to provide linear displacement (ie, linear displacement) for the four driving wires 104 .

In terms of specific implementation, as shown in FIG. 7 , each linear slide group 32 includes: a rotary motor 301 , a lead screw 302 , a nut 303 , a slider 304 , a guide rail 305 and a bearing 306 ;

Wherein, the rotating motor 301, the guide rail 305 and the bearing 306 are fixed on the drive module support structure 31;

The nut 303 is fixedly connected with the slider 304;

The nut 303 is provided with a threading hole for fixing the driving wire 104 .

In terms of specific implementation, as shown in FIG. 8 , the godet wheel set 33 includes four tensioning pulleys 307 and twelve guiding pulleys 308 ;

Four driving wires 104 are wound around the guide wheel and the tension wheel.

It should be noted that the godet wheel set 33 includes a series of godet wheels for providing guidance for the driving wire and reducing friction.

It should be noted that the flexible continuum robot based on the contact auxiliary structure provided by the present invention includes a robot body and a driving module. The robot body includes a tip deflection part and a conduit part. The end deflection part and the catheter part are made of super-elastic nickel-titanium alloy tube by precision laser cutting. Precision laser cutting is to accurately remove part of the tube body material to form a flexible joint.

In the present invention, the flexible joint is composed of a flexible hinge and a contact auxiliary structure. The topology of the flexible joint is symmetrically designed, and is alternately arrayed at equal distances in two orthogonal directions along the central axis of the nickel-titanium tube, and is driven by a wire to form pitch and yaw. degrees of freedom.

In the present invention, the flexible hinge structure is a rectangular beam structure or a curvature beam structure, and the beam structure determines the rigidity of the mechanism and forms a skeleton body that can restore a straight state.

In the present invention, the beam structure and deflection angle are selected to determine the beam peak strain after actuated deflection. The single flexible joint has 5 pairs of contact assist structures. The 5 pairs of contact auxiliary structures include 4 pairs of main contact auxiliary structures and one pair of secondary contact auxiliary structures, and the gap between the main contact auxiliary structures is about 20 microns.

In the present invention, the primary contact auxiliary structure provides three aspects of physical constraints for the flexible hinge, including deflection, torsion and tensile constraints. The secondary contact assist structure provides a deflection stop for the deflected mechanism, forming a physical constraint that prevents material strain from continuing to increase. The frontal projection of the included angle between the secondary contact auxiliary structures is a trapezoid, and the included angle between the trapezoids is the maximum deflection angle of the single flexible joint.

In the present invention, the catheter portion includes a plurality of distal deflection portion flexible joints. The rigidity of the flexible hinge of the conduit portion is greater than the rigidity of the flexible hinge of the end deflection portion. The outside of the robot body is installed with a wire guide disk at a fixed distance, the material of the wire guide disk is stainless steel, and the cross-section is machined with four small holes and one large hole.

In the present invention, the four small holes provide support and guidance for the drive wire. The large hole in the middle forms a small clearance fit with the outer wall of the nickel-titanium tube, and the consolidation method adopts bonding or welding. The arrangement interval of the guide wire discs of the end deflection part is a single joint distance, and the arrangement interval of any two wire guide discs on the catheter part is five joint distances.

Compared with the prior art, the flexible continuum robot based on the contact auxiliary structure provided by the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

1. The end deflection part adopts laser integrated processing, which has high forming efficiency and low cost.

2. In addition to greatly improving the mechanical properties of the mechanism such as tensile and torsional performance, the end deflection part has no hysteresis in the joint mechanism; better deflection around the joint centroid; its own skeleton body does not require additional elastic elements; these characteristics are clinically important The diagnosis and treatment operation provides better stability and safety.

3. The end deflection part and the catheter part can be integrally formed, and the interface can also be designed to complete the later assembly, and the assembly is more flexible.

4. Small diameter, large inner cavity, simple assembly and easy disinfection.

6. Greatly improve the tensile and torsional strength of flexible and long surgical tools.

To sum up, compared with the prior art, the flexible continuum robot based on the contact-assisted structure provided by the present invention, as a flexible continuum robot for the diagnosis and treatment of early cancer in the digestive tract, includes flexible access to endoscopic surgery. The end deflection part, the catheter part and the driving module of the operation platform, the flexible robot is designed based on the contact-assisted structure, made of super-elastic nickel-titanium alloy tube, and transmits power through the driving wire, which can overcome the difficulty of miniaturization of existing flexible instruments. The working channel space is small, the tensile and torsional performance is poor, the end deflection mechanism has a backlash, and there is no skeleton, which has great practical significance in production.

The invention is a flexible continuum robot with small diameter, high processing and manufacturing efficiency, and excellent mechanical properties such as tensile and torsional resistance.

The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention. It should be pointed out that for those skilled in the art, without departing from the principles of the present invention, several improvements and modifications can be made. It should be regarded as the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims (4)

1. A flexible continuum robot based on a contact auxiliary structure, characterized in that it comprises an end deflection part (1), a catheter part (2) and a drive module (3); The driving module (3) is connected with the end deflection part (1) through the conduit part (2); Wherein, the end deflection part (1) comprises: a flexible manipulator body (11), an end deflection part driving component (12) and an imaging component (13); The end deflection part driving assembly (12) is assembled outside the manipulator body (11); The imaging assembly (13) is installed inside the manipulator body (11); The flexible manipulator body (11) is a nickel-titanium tube, the flexible manipulator body (11) is provided with a plurality of manipulator body flexible joints (101) distributed at equal intervals, and a drive module ( 3) One end of one end has an end interface (102); A plurality of flexible joints (101) of the manipulator body, which are processed by laser cutting nickel-titanium tubes; The end interface (102) is provided with four notches at equal intervals of (90) degrees along the circumferential direction of the end of the flexible manipulator body (11); The end deflection part driving assembly (12) comprises a plurality of wire guide discs (103) and four driving wires (104); The end face of the godet (103) is provided with four small holes (1031) and one large hole (1032); Wherein, four small holes (1031) are evenly distributed at 90-degree equal intervals along the circumferential direction of the end face of the wire godet (103), and are used to guide and support the four driving wires (104); Wherein, a large hole (1032) is located in the middle of the wire guide plate (103), and forms a close fit with the outer wall of the flexible joint (101) of the manipulator body in the flexible manipulator body (11); Any two adjacent wire guide discs (103) are installed on the outer wall of the flexible manipulator body (11) with a single flexible joint (101) of the manipulator body as the interval; The four driving wires (104) respectively pass through the four small holes (1031) on the end face of the wire guide disc (103) to form a clearance fit; The conduit portion (2) includes a conduit portion body (21); The catheter part body (21) is a nickel-titanium tube, and the catheter part body (21) is provided with a plurality of catheter part flexible joints (201) distributed at equal intervals; The outer wall of the catheter body (21) is provided with a plurality of guide wire discs (103) at equal intervals; Wherein, between any two adjacent wire guide discs (103), there are five flexible joints (201) of the catheter part; Wherein, the end face of the godet (103) is provided with four small holes (1031) and one large hole (1032); Wherein, the four small holes (1031) are evenly distributed at (90) degrees in the circumferential direction of the end face of the wire guide disc (103), and are used to guide and support the four driving wires (104); Wherein, a large hole (1032) is located in the middle of the guide wire tray (103), and forms a close fit with the outer wall of the catheter part flexible joint (201) in the catheter part body (21); The topological structures of the flexible joint of the manipulator body (101) and the flexible joint of the catheter part (201) are symmetrically designed, and both include contact auxiliary structures in multiple parts to help improve the movement performance of the mechanism; The flexible joints of the manipulator body (101) and the flexible joints of the catheter part (201) are alternately arrayed equidistantly in two orthogonal directions along the central axes of the flexible manipulator body (11) and the catheter part body (21) respectively, and are driven The wire (104) is driven to form the pitch and yaw degrees of freedom. 2. The flexible continuum robot based on a contact auxiliary structure according to claim 1, wherein the imaging assembly (13) comprises a flexible optical fiber image bundle (105) and a jacket (106); Wherein, the flexible optical fiber image bundle (105) includes a distal probe (1051), an image bundle body (1052), and a near-end lens (1053); The distal probe (1051) is fixedly connected with the inner hole of the jacket (106); The jacket (106) is connected with the end interface (102) in the flexible manipulator body (11) to form a tight fit. 3. The flexible continuum robot based on a contact auxiliary structure according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the drive module (3) comprises a drive module support structure (31), a linear slide group (32) and a guide wire wheel set (33); Wherein, the linear sliding table group (32) and the godet wheel group (33) are mounted on the drive module support structure (31); The linear slide table groups (32) consist of four groups, which are respectively connected with one end of a driving wire (104), and provide linear displacement for the four driving wires (104). 4. The flexible continuum robot based on a contact auxiliary structure according to claim 3, wherein each linear slide group (32) comprises: a rotary motor (301), a screw (302), and a nut (303) , slider (304), guide rail (305) and bearing (306); Wherein, the rotating motor (301), the guide rail (305) and the bearing (306) are fixed on the drive module support structure (31); The nut (303) is fixedly connected with the slider (304); The nut (303) is provided with a threading hole for fixing the driving wire (104).

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