Towards Flexible Steerable Instruments for Office-Based Laryngeal Surgery

Abstract

Office-based endoscopic procedures are becoming an increasingly attractive option for the treatment of laryngeal abnormalities, but their effectiveness is limited by the lack of articulation in currently available surgical instruments. In this paper, we propose the development of novel miniaturized steerable instruments aimed to overcome this limitation and extend a surgeon’s reach inside the larynx. To guide the designs of these new instruments, we report on a simulation study which uses image-based anatomical models to derive the kinematic requirements to operate inside the laryngeal cavity.