SHAPE MEMORY ALLOYS: THEIR APPLICATION TO MICROSURGERY

STC TECHNOLOGY GROUP, INC., WAS FORMED TO ADDRESS THE HUMAN DEXTERITY PROBLEM. A BIMANUAL TELEMICROROBOTICS TEST BED, FEATURING HIGH-PRECISION PARALLEL ROBOTIC MANIPULATORS, HAS BEEN DESIGNED WITH A MAJORITY OF THE COMPONENTS IN PLACE. THIS PROJECT ADDRESSES A SUBSET OF THE OVERALL SYSTEM: THE 3-DOF FINE MANIPULATOR. IN DESIGNING THE 3-DOF FINE MANIPULATOR SYSTEM FOR THE TEST BED, IT BECAME APPARENT THAT THIS DEVICE COULD ALSO BE USEFUL FOR PRESENT OPERATING PROCEDURES WHEREBY A HUMAN BECOMES THE COARSE POSITIONER PLACING THE 3-DOF FINE POSITIONER NEAR ITS TARGET AREA (RETINA OR ACOUSTIC NERVE). WITH POSITION RESOLUTION IN THE 1- TO 10-MICRON RANGE, MICROSURGEONS WILL BE ABLE TO APPROACH STRUCTURES CURRENTLY INACCESSIBLE. THERE ARE NO CURRENT SYSTEMS OFFERING HAND-HELD 3-DOF MOVEMENT ON A DOWN-SIZED SCALE FOR MICROSURGEONS. STC TECHNOLOGY GROUP, INC., WILL EXPLORE THE FEASIBILITY OF USING SHAPE MEMORY ALLOY (SMA) DEVICES FOR SUCH A MANIPULATOR. THIS WORK WILL DEFINE THE POSITION RESOLUTION, VELOCITY, AND ACCELERATION OF THE 3-DOF MANIPULATOR AND DETERMINE THE OPTIMUM SMA CONFIGURATION AND CONTROL SCHEME FOR EACH DEGREE OF FREEDOM.