Penetration detection with intention recognition for cooperatively controlled robotic needle insertion

In lumbar puncture surgeries, force and position information throughout the insertion procedure is vital for needle tip localization, because it reflects different tissue properties. Especially in pediatric cases, the changes are always insignificant for surgeons to sense the crucial feeling of loss of resistance. In this study, a robot system is developed to tackle the major clinical difficulties. Four different control algorithms with intention recognition ability are applied on a novel lumbar puncture robot system for better human–robot cooperation. Specific penetration detection based on force and position derivatives captures the feeling of loss of resistance, which is deemed crucial for needle tip location. Kinematic and actuation modeling provides a clear description of the hardware setup. The control algorithm experiment compares the human–robot cooperation performance of proposed algorithms. The experiment also dictates the clear role of designed penetration detection criteria in capturing the penetration, improving the success rate, and ensuring operational safety.