1.1. What is the dVRK?

The da Vinci Research Kit (dVRK) is an “open-source mechatronics” system, consisting of electronics, firmware, and software that is being used to control research systems based on retired da Vinci systems from Intuitive Surgical Inc. You can find a more detailed description of the dVRK on the Intuitive Foundation’s site. The dVRK is now deployed in more than 40 different institutions worldwide.

1.1.1. The da Vinci

The first da Vinci system was developed in the late 1990s and approved by the FDA for clinical use at the turn of the century. The da Vinci is designed for RAMIS (robotically assisted minimally invasive surgery). The main advantages of a teleoperated (robotically assisted) laparoscopic surgery over a manual minimally invasive surgery are:

  • Extra dexterity at the end of the instrument (Intuitive’s EndoWrist).

  • Depth perception. Instead of looking at a wall mounted monitor, the operator is seated at a console which can provide a stereo display.

  • Motion scaling. Since the patient side manipulators are mechanically decoupled from the operator’s hand, it is possible to scale down the motion. This allows operators to perform finer tasks.

  • Many hands. The operator can control up to 3 instruments and the camera. Foot pedals are used to select which arms are active on the patient’s side at any given time. When inactive, instruments and camera are held in place. There is no need for an assistant to handle the endoscope or a third instrument.

  • Hand-eye registration. The system can determine the pose and orientation of the patient side manipulators with respect to the endoscopic camera. Using this information, it is possible to compute the change of orientation (in 3D) to be applied to the surgeon’s moves, so the directions remain natural. If the surgeon moves to the left, the instrument will move to the left in the stereo display regardless of the camera pose.

  • The operator is seated at an ergonomic console during most of the surgery instead of standing above the patient holding instruments and looking at a monitor.

1.1.2. The kit

The dVRK’s main goal is to re-use as much hardware as possible from retired clinical da Vinci systems. Designing and manufacturing robots (both on the patient and operator sides) is a costly endeavor that most research institutions cannot support. Therefore, giving a second life to these systems makes a lot of sense.

Besides the mechanical arms, the da Vinci also has its own electronics and software. These parts are much harder to share with the community due to obsolescence and intellectual property issues. Fortunately, the mechatronics and software are also a bit easier to develop and distribute at a reasonable cost for research institutions. To summarize, the kit is composed of:

  1. Manipulators and other hardware (endoscope, stereo display…) from retired da Vinci systems

  2. Controllers, software and some support from the dVRK group at the Johns Hopkins University (all open source)

  3. Linux PCs users pick and buy on their own. They are not provided with the dVRK controllers. PC and hardware setup, configuration and calibration are performed by the dVRK owner

Since each dVRK group might receive different hardware, each “kit” is different.

1.1.3. Credit/Citation

See the publication section.