Miniature Pneumatic Artificial Muscles for Use in Surgical Devices

Abstract:
Novel miniature actuators are needed to design flexible instruments for use in minimally invasive surgery (MIS). Smaller actuators are especially important for instruments with multiple degrees of freedom, which must incorporate multiple actuators in a very limited cross sectional area. Pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs) have been selected for this purpose due to their simple construction, high power-to-weight ratio, and promise for miniaturization. PAMs as small as 1.5 mm in diameter have previously been developed for use in these applications. This study constructs and evaluates several prototype PAMs constructed using a 0.94 mm diameter elastic tube with a range of braided meshes 0.9 mm, 1.1 mm, and 1.5 mm in diameter. These PAMs are the smallest reported McKibben artificial muscles that the authors are aware of. These smaller PAMs are ideal for use in the future design of flexible MIS instruments with multiple degree of freedom bending segments.