ObjectiveTo re-evaluate the systematic review and meta-analysis (SR/MAs) of the efficacy of robot-assisted pedicle screw placement. MethodsThe CNKI, VIP, WanFang Data, SinoMed, PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases were electronically searched to collect SR/MAs of robot-assisted pedicle screw placement from inception to April 28, 2023. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and then assessed the quality of reports, methodological quality, risk of bias, and the strength of evidence quality by using PRISMA, AMSTAR-Ⅱ, ROBIS, and GRADE tool. ResultsA total of 20 SR/MAs were included. The results of the included studies showed that robot-assisted pedicle screw placement was more accurate and had a lower number of complications compared with freehand pedicle screw placement. The quality of reports, methodology, and evidence for pedicle screw placement efficiency in all SR/MAs were low or extremely low, with a high risk of bias. The main reasons included high heterogeneity of included studies, unclear research methods and selection criteria, and missing key reporting processes. ConclusionRobot-assisted pedicle screw placement may have better clinical efficiency than traditional freehand pedicle screw placement. But the quality of relational SR/MAs is low.
This article presents the design of a motion control system for seated lower-limb rehabilitation training. The system is composed of lower limb exoskeleton, motor drive circuit, program of motion control, and so forth. The power of lower limbs joints is provided by six motors. The PCI-1240 motion control card is used as the core. This study achieved repetitive rotation training and gait trajectory training of lower limbs joints, of which the velocity, angle and time can be accurately controlled and adjusted. The experimental results showed that the motion control system can meet the requirement of repetitive rehabilitation training for patients with lower limb dysfunction. This article provides a new method to the research of motion control system in rehabilitation training, which can promote industrial automation technique to be used for health care, and conducive to the further study of the rehabilitation robot.
A new one-time registration method was developed in this research for hand-eye calibration of a surgical robot to simplify the operation process and reduce the preparation time. And a new and practical method is introduced in this research to optimize the end-tool parameters of the surgical robot based on analysis of the error sources in this registration method. In the process with one-time registration method, firstly a marker on the end-tool of the robot was recognized by a fixed binocular camera, and then the orientation and position of the marker were calculated based on the joint parameters of the robot. Secondly the relationship between the camera coordinate system and the robot base coordinate system could be established to complete the hand-eye calibration. Because of manufacturing and assembly errors of robot end-tool, an error equation was established with the transformation matrix between the robot end coordinate system and the robot end-tool coordinate system as the variable. Numerical optimization was employed to optimize end-tool parameters of the robot. The experimental results showed that the one-time registration method could significantly improve the efficiency of the robot hand-eye calibration compared with the existing methods. The parameter optimization method could significantly improve the absolute positioning accuracy of the one-time registration method. The absolute positioning accuracy of the one-time registration method can meet the requirements of the clinical surgery.
ObjectiveTo systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery (RAS) and conventional laparoscopic surgery (CLS) in hiatus hernia repair. MethodsPubMed, The Cochrane Library, CNKI, Web of Science, VIP, and Wanfang databases were searched to collect literature comparing the efficacy and safety of RAS and CLS for hiatus hernia repair published from their inception to November 7, 2023. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) was used to evaluate the quality of the included studies, and RevMan 5.4.1 software was used for meta-analysis. ResultsA total of 15 retrospective cohort studies with 18239 patients were finally included. The NOS scores of the included literature were all≥7 points. Meta-analysis results showed that RAS was superior to CLS in terms of postoperative complications as the primary outcome [OR=0.56, 95%CI (0.42, 0.77), P<0.01]. There was no statistical difference between the two methods in terms of average operation time [MD=?0.74, 95%CI (?12.99, 11.51), P=0.91], average intraoperative blood loss [MD=?24.47, 95%CI (?54.80, 5.87), P=0.11], intraoperative complications [OR=0.76, 95%CI (0.29, 2.01), P=0.58], average postoperative hospital stay [MD=?0.24, 95%CI (?0.75, 0.27), P=0.36], postoperative GERD score [MD=?0.04, 95%CI (?0.41, 0.33), P=0.81], and 30-day readmission rate [OR=0.60, 95%CI (0.30, 1.20), P=0.15]. The cost of CLS surgery was less than that of RAS [SMD=1.59, 95%CI (1.16, 2.01), P<0.01]. ConclusionRAS has comparable efficacy and safety to CLS in hiatus hernia repair.
Objective To investigate the effectiveness of MAKO robotic-arm assisted total hip arthroplasty (THA) via direct anterior approach (DAA) for bony fused hips in ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Methods Between June 2021 and January 2022, MAKO robotic-arm assisted THA via DAA was applied to treat 10 cases (12 hips) of AS with bony fused hips. There were 7 males and 3 females; the age ranged from 30 to 71 years, with an average age of 42.4 years. The duration of AS was 12-35 years, with an average of 21.4 years. The preoperative hip was ankylosed in flexion in 3 cases, with a flexion angle of 20°, 30°, 35°, respectively; 9 cases were ankylosed in extension. The operation time and complications were recorded; the visual analogue scale (VAS) score, Harris score, and Oxford hip scale (OHS) score before and after operation, and postoperative range of motion (flexion, extension, internal rotation, external rotation, adduction, and abduction) were used to evaluate the recovery of joint function; according to the postoperative anteroposterior X-ray film and CT scan of both hip joints, the abduction angle, anteversion angle, the difference between bilateral combined off-set and the lower limb length discrepancy were measured. Results The operation time ranged from 80 to 190 minutes (mean, 134.6 minutes). All 10 patients were followed up 5-11 months (mean, 7.4 months). There was no serious adverse events such as incision infection, deep vein thrombosis of lower extremities, hip redislocation, aseptic loosening of the prosthesis, or death. At 5 months after operation, the acetabular prosthesis angle of abduction was 37°-45° (mean, 40.3°), anteversion angle was 9°-20° (mean, 15.8°). The difference between bilateral combined off-set was 0-10 mm (mean, 4.3 mm); the lower limb length discrepancy was 0-12 mm (mean, 3.5 mm). At last follow-up, the average range of motion of the hip joint was 89.2° in flexion (range, 80°-100°), 1.7° in extension (range, –5°-10°), 7.1° in internal rotation (range, 0°-15°), 20.4° in external rotation (range, 10°-30°), 7.9° in adduction (range, 0°-20°), and 16.5° in abduction (range, 10°-25°). At last follow-up, the VAS score, Harris score, and OHS score significantly improved when compared with those before operation (P<0.05). ConclusionThe MAKO robotic-arm assisted THA via DAA can achieve satisfactory results in the treatment of AS with bony fused hip, which has the advantages of accurate prosthesis installation, soft tissue release, and less trauma during operation.
With the breakthroughs of digitization, artificial intelligence and other technologies and the gradual expansion of application fields, more and more studies have been conducted on the application of digital intelligence technologies such as exoskeleton robots, brain-computer interface, and spinal cord neuromodulation to improve or compensate physical function after spinal cord injury (SCI) and improve self-care ability and quality of life of patients with SCI. The development of digital intelligent rehabilitation technology provides a new application platform for the functional reconstruction after SCI, and the digital and intelligentized rehabilitation technology has broad application prospects in the clinical rehabilitation treatment after SCI. This article elaborates on the current status of exoskeleton robots, brain-computer interface technology, and spinal cord neuromodulation technology for functional recovery after SCI.
Brain-computer interface (BCI) has great potential to replace lost upper limb function. Thus, there has been great interest in the development of BCI-controlled robotic arm. However, few studies have attempted to use noninvasive electroencephalography (EEG)-based BCI to achieve high-level control of a robotic arm. In this paper, a high-level control architecture combining augmented reality (AR) BCI and computer vision was designed to control a robotic arm for performing a pick and place task. A steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP)-based BCI paradigm was adopted to realize the BCI system. Microsoft's HoloLens was used to build an AR environment and served as the visual stimulator for eliciting SSVEPs. The proposed AR-BCI was used to select the objects that need to be operated by the robotic arm. The computer vision was responsible for providing the location, color and shape information of the objects. According to the outputs of the AR-BCI and computer vision, the robotic arm could autonomously pick the object and place it to specific location. Online results of 11 healthy subjects showed that the average classification accuracy of the proposed system was 91.41%. These results verified the feasibility of combing AR, BCI and computer vision to control a robotic arm, and are expected to provide new ideas for innovative robotic arm control approaches.
Objective To evaluate the safety and feasibility of remote robot-assisted thoracoscopic surgery utilizing 5G technology. Methods Clinical data from five patients who underwent 5G remote robot-assisted thoracoscopic surgery at the Thoracic Surgery Center of Gansu Provincial People's Hospital from May to October 2024 were retrospectively analyzed. Results Finally, five patients were included. There were 2 males and 3 females at median age of 50 (42-63) years. All five surgeries (including 1 patient of lobectomy, 3 patients of partial lung resection and 1 patient of mediastinal lesion resection) were successfully completed without conversion to thoracotomy, complications, or mortality. The median intraoperative signal delay across the patients was 39 (37-42) ms. The median psychological load score for the surgeons was 9 (3-13). The median operation time was 100 (80-122) minutes with a median intraoperative blood loss of 100 (30-200) mL. Catheter drainage lasted a median of 4 (3-5) days, and the median drainage volumes on the first, second, and third postoperative day were 200 (100-300) mL, 150 (60-220) mL, and 80 (30-180) mL, respectively. The median postoperative hospital stay was 4 (3-7) days, and the median pain scores on the third postoperative day were 3 (1-4), 3 (0-3), and 1 (0-3), respectively. Conclusion 5G remote robot-assisted thoracoscopic surgery is safe and effective, with good surgical experience, smooth operation and small intraoperative delay.
Objective To summarize the clinical data about mediastinal lesions, then to analyze the treatment effect of da Vinci robot system in the surgical treatment of mediastinal lesions. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 49 patients with mediastinal lesions in our hospital between January 2016 and October 2017. These patients were divided into two groups including a da Vinci robot group and a video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) group according to the selection of the treatments. There were 25 patients with 14 males and 11 females at age of 56.5±17.9 years in the da Vinci group and 24 patient with 15 males and 11 females at age of 53.0±17.8 years in the VATS group. Results There was no statistical difference in surgery time between the two groups (t=–0.365, P=0.681). Less intraoperative blood loss (t=–2.569, P<0.001), less postoperative drainage amount within three days after surgery (t=–6.325, P=0.045), shorter period of bearing drainage tubes after surgery (t=–1.687, P=0.024), shorter hospital stays (t=–3.689, P=0.021), lower visual analogue scale (VAS) scores of postoperative 48 hours (t=–7.214, P=0.014) with a statistical difference in the da Vinci robot group compared with the VATS group. Conclusion The da Vinci robot system is safe and efficient in the treatment of mediastinal lesions compared with video-assisted thoracoscopic approach.
Objective To explore the application progress and clinical value of digital technologies in the surgical treatment of ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Methods By systematically reviewing domestic and international literature, the study summarized the specific application scenarios, operational procedures, and technical advantages of digital technologies [including preoperative three-dimensional (3D) planning, intraoperative real-time navigation, robot-assisted surgery, and 3D printing] in AS surgery, and analyzed their impact on surgical accuracy, complication rates, and clinical outcomes. ResultsDigital technologies significantly improve the precision and safety of AS surgery. Preoperative 3D planning enables personalized surgical protocols; intraoperative navigation systems dynamically adjusts surgical trajectories, reducing the risk of iatrogenic injury; robot-assisted surgery can minimize human errors and enhance implant positioning accuracy; 3D-printed anatomical models and guides optimize the correction of complex spinal deformities. Furthermore, the combined applications of these technologies shorten operative time, reduce intraoperative blood loss, decrease postoperative complications (e.g., infection, nerve injury), and accelerate functional recovery.ConclusionThrough multidimensional integration and innovation, digital technologies provide a precise and minimally invasive solution for AS surgical treatment. Future research should focus on their synergy with biomaterials and intelligent algorithms to further refine surgical strategies and improve long-term prognosis.