Cited by 30Soft Robotics and ApplicationsRobotic Mechanisms and DynamicsTeleoperation and Haptic Systems

A Flexible Transoral Robot Towards COVID-19 Swab Sampling

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Li, Changsheng, Gu, Xiaoyi, Xiao, Xiao, Lim, Chwee Ming, Duan, Xingguang, Ren, Hongliang·2021·Frontiers in Robotics and AI

Abstract

There are high risks of infection for surgeons during the face-to-face COVID-19 swab sampling due to the novel coronavirus’s infectivity. To address this issue, we propose a flexible transoral robot with a teleoperated configuration for swab sampling. The robot comprises a flexible manipulator, an endoscope with a monitor, and a master device. A 3-prismatic-universal (3-PU) flexible parallel mechanism with 3 degrees of freedom (DOF) is used to realize the manipulator’s movements. The flexibility of the manipulator improves the safety of testees. Besides, the master device is similar to the manipulator in structure. It is easy to use for operators. Under the guidance of the vision from the endoscope, the surgeon can operate the master device to control the swab’s motion attached to the manipulator for sampling. In this paper, the robotic system, the workspace, and the operation procedure are described in detail. The tongue depressor, which is used to prevent the tongue’s interference during the sampling, is also tested. The accuracy of the manipulator under visual guidance is validated intuitively. Finally, the experiment on a human phantom is conducted to demonstrate the feasibility of the robot preliminarily.

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  • A flexible transoral robot with a teleoperated configuration is proposed to address surgeons' risks during face-to-face COVID-19 swab sampling.

    “A flexible transoral robot with a teleoperated configuration is proposed to address the surgeons' risks during the face-to-face COVID-19 swab sampling.”

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Li, C., Gu, X., Xiao, X., Lim, C. M., Duan, X., & Ren, H.
Affiliations
  • Beijing Institute of Technology (CN)
  • National University of Singapore (SG)
  • Southern University of Science and Technology (CN)
Corresponding author
Ren, Hongliang
Venue
Frontiers in Robotics and AI
Published
2021-04-12
Volume
8
Pages
612167-612167
ISSN
2296-9144 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3155771942
Cited by
30
References
0
Citations by year
2025: 4 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 2
FWCI
1.97
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Frontiers in Robotics and AI (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • National University of Singapore (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China (2018YFB1307703))
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Soft Robotics and Applications
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Control and Systems Engineering › Robotic Mechanisms and Dynamics
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanical Engineering › Teleoperation and Haptic Systems
Keywords
teleoperation, flexible manipulators, tongue depressor, infection control, workspace analysis

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