Lessons Learned from the Development of Component-Based Medical Robot Systems

Over the past two decades, a variety of medical robot systems have been developed and commercial products are actively used in modern operating rooms. These systems often comprise a variety of sensors and devices with the real-time constraints, and the size and complexity of these systems have significantly increased to achieve both desired medical functionality and non-functional requirements such as safety, integrity, and reliability. Medical robot systems, as in other robotics areas, have reached a point that requires careful consideration of strategies for more effective and maintainable system development or rapid prototyping. We have been developing a component-based software framework for computer-assisted intervention systems, called cisst, with a collection of reusable components, that addresses these issues. This paper describes practical problems and challenges that we have faced throughout the development of various medical and surgical robot systems. It also discusses our design approaches and possible solutions, and summarizes the lessons learned. Although the main focus is on medical robot systems, we believe our experience with component-based software development in medical robotics can be shared with the rest of the robotics community.