Continuum manipulators attract a lot of interests due to their advantageous properties, such as distal dexterity, design compactness, intrinsic compliance for safe interaction with unstructured environments. However, these manipulators sometimes suffer from the lack of enough stiffness while applied in surgical robotic systems. This paper presents an experimental kinestatic comparison between three continuum manipulators, aiming at revealing how structural variations could alter the manipulators' stiffness properties. These variations not only include modifying the arrangements of elastic components, but also include integrating a passive rigid kinematic chain to form a hybrid continuum-rigid manipulator. Results of this paper could contribute to the development of design guidelines for realizing desired stiffness properties of a continuum or hybrid manipulator.

SPAL (Single Port Access Laparoscopy) could lead to improved surgical outcomes but demands functional and effective next-generation surgical tools. Various manual tools and robotic assistant systems have been developed in response to the unmet needs of SPAL. This paper presents the concept, design considerations and experimental characterizations of a foldable stereo vision unit with integrated illumination. The vision unit can be inserted into the abdomen through a Ø12mm trocar in a cylindrical laparoscope form. It can then unfold itself into a working configuration, providing 3D visualization of the surgical site as well as a remaining access port for manipulation arms or surgical tools. Given its standalone features, the vision unit could either be used for SPAL in a robotic assistant system or be applied in a surgical setting with standard manual tools.

This paper proposed a design of an endoscopic stitching device for surgical obesity treatment using a N.O.T.E.S (Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery) approach. This proposed N.O.T.E.S gastroplasty approach performs stitching and resizing of a stomach from inside, aiming at further reducing postoperative complications by avoiding the use of skin incisions. The presented design can be inserted into the stomach in a folded configuration and be unfolded into a working configuration to perform stitching. It uses pre-curved super-elastic NiTi (Nickel-Titanium) alloy needle to facilitate the stitching motion. Role of the NiTi needle is demonstrated in in-vitro tissue penetrating experiments, while deployment and stitching motions of this device are verified using simulations.