There is growing interest in automating surgical tasks using robotic systems, such as endoscopy for treating gastrointestinal (GI) cancer. However, previous studies have primarily focused on detecting and analyzing objects or robots, with limited attention to ensuring safety, which is critical for clinical applications, where accidents can be caused by unsafe robot motions. In this study, we propose a new control framework that can formally ensure the safety of automating certain processes involved in endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD), a representative endoscopic surgical method for the treatment of early GI cancer, by using an endoscopic robot. The proposed framework utilizes Control Barrier Functions (CBFs) to accurately identify the boundaries of individual tumors, even in close proximity within the GI tract, ensuring precise treatment and removal while preserving the surrounding normal tissue. Additionally, by adopting a model-free control scheme, safety assurance is made possible even in endoscopic robotic systems where dynamic modeling is challenging. We demonstrate the proposed framework in cases where the tumors to be removed are close to each other, showing that the safety constraints are enforced. We show that the model-free CBF-based controlled robot eliminates one tumor completely without damaging it, while not invading another nearby tumor.

翻译：利用机器人系统（例如用于治疗胃肠道癌症的内窥镜）实现手术任务自动化正受到越来越多的关注。然而，先前的研究主要集中在检测和分析物体或机器人上，对确保安全性的关注有限，而安全性对于临床应用至关重要，因为不安全的机器人运动可能导致事故。在本研究中，我们提出了一种新的控制框架，该框架能够通过使用内窥镜机器人，正式确保内镜黏膜下剥离术（一种用于治疗早期胃肠道癌症的代表性内镜手术方法）中涉及的某些自动化过程的安全性。所提出的框架利用控制屏障函数，即使在胃肠道内彼此非常接近的情况下，也能精确识别单个肿瘤的边界，从而在保护周围正常组织的同时确保精确治疗和切除。此外，通过采用无模型控制方案，即使在动态建模具有挑战性的内窥镜机器人系统中，也能实现安全保证。我们在待切除肿瘤彼此靠近的案例中演示了所提出的框架，结果表明安全约束得到了有效执行。我们证明，基于无模型CBF的受控机器人能够在不损伤另一个邻近肿瘤的情况下，完全切除一个肿瘤。