Design of compliant gripper for surgical applications

ABSTRACT

This article presents a novel design of monolithic compliant grippers for surgical applications. Compliant mechanisms are jointless mechanism and overcome the major traditional issues such as wear, friction and assembly error. Performance of compliant mechanism depends on the elastic body deformation to transmit motion between the linkages. In this article, the proposed gripper is designed with three different parts with different intended functions: tilting actuator, linear actuator and gripping jaws. Gripping jaws are developed to cut through shearing and collect tissues. A linear actuator transmits the input force to the gripping jaws. A tilting actuator tilts the whole gripper up and down to increase the shear force to cut the tissues. A conceptual mechanism is developed using topology optimisation for these concepts independently. Later, these parts are assembled and developed as a final solid model using SolidWorks. The structural performance of the gripper is investigated thoroughly using finite-element method.

KEYWORDS:

• Compliant gripper
• MIS
• FEA
• compliant mechanism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) India supports this work through Early Career Research (ECR) Award scheme [ECR/2016/001938].

Notes on contributors

Libu George B

Libu George B completed his graduated in mechanical engineering (BE) and Masters in Mechanical Engineering Technology (M.Tech) from Manipal Institute of Technology (Manipal University). He is pursuing his PhD in mechanical engineering from VIT University, India. He is having 11+ years of industrial and research experience. Presently, he is working as Senior mechanical engineer in Dover India Pvt Ltd, Bangalore. His research interests are Finite Element Analysis, Mechanism Design, compliant mechanism design, Medical equipment Design, verification, Medical equipment Validation Biopsy devices and MEMS.

R Bharanidaran

R Bharanidaran, an associate professor of school mechanical engineering at Vellore Institute of Technology Vellore, graduated in mechanical engineering (B.E.) masters in computer aided design (M.E.) from Anna University, India. In 2014, he obtained his PhD from National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli, India for designing compliant microgripper with multi functions. His research interests are compliant mechanism design, Biopsy devices, prosthetics, Flexure hinges, Finite Element Analysis and MEMS. He has published numerous articles in refereed journals and conference proceedings including Elsevier, Springer and in various reputed publisher