Robotically steerable compliant surgical tools offer several advantages over rigid tools, including enhanced dexterity, reduced tissue damage, and the ability to generate non-linear trajectories in minimally invasive neurosurgical procedures. Many existing robotic neurosurgical tools are designed using stainless steel or nitinol materials. Using polymer-based materials instead can offer advantages such as reduced interference in magnetic resonance imaging, enhanced safety for guiding electrically powered instruments, and reduced tissue damage due to inherent compliance. Several polymer materials have been used in robotic surgical applications, such as polyimide, polycarbonate, and elastic resin. Various fabrication strategies have also been proposed, including standard microfabrication techniques, thermal drawing, and 3-D printing. In our previous work, a tendon-driven, notched-tube was designed for several neurosurgical robotic tools, utilizing laser micromachining to reduce the stiffness of the tube in certain directions. This fabrication method is desirable because it has a single-step process, has high precision, and does not require a cleanroom or harsh chemicals. Past studies have explored laser-micromachining of polymer material for surgical applications such as stent fabrication. In this work, we explore extending the use of the laser micromachining approach to the fabrication of polyimide (PI) robotically steerable cannulas for neurosurgical applications. Utilizing the method presented in this work, we fabricated joints as small as 1.5 mm outer diameter (OD). Multiple joints were fabricated using PI tubes of different ODs, and the loading behavior of the fabricated joints was experimentally characterized.

翻译：机器人可操纵柔性手术工具相较于刚性工具具有多项优势，包括在微创神经外科手术中增强灵巧性、减少组织损伤以及能够生成非线性轨迹。现有许多机器人神经外科工具采用不锈钢或镍钛合金材料设计。改用聚合物基材料可带来诸多优势，例如减少磁共振成像干扰、增强引导电动器械的安全性，以及因材料固有柔顺性而降低组织损伤。多种聚合物材料已应用于机器人外科手术，如聚酰亚胺、聚碳酸酯和弹性树脂。同时已提出多种制造策略，包括标准微加工技术、热拉伸和3D打印。在我们先前的工作中，为多种神经外科机器人工具设计了肌腱驱动的缺口管，利用激光微加工技术降低特定方向上的管体刚度。该制造方法因其单步工艺、高精度且无需洁净室或强化学试剂而备受青睐。既往研究已探索将聚合物材料的激光微加工技术用于支架制造等外科应用。本研究致力于将激光微加工方法拓展应用于制造神经外科领域的聚酰亚胺（PI）机器人可操纵插管。采用本文提出的方法，我们成功制造出外径（OD）小至1.5 mm的关节结构。利用不同外径的PI管制造了多个关节，并通过实验表征了制造关节的承载特性。