SCALPP: innovation at the service of medical robotics

Paris, April 22, 2003

SCALPP is the first robot that harvests skin to be used in reconstructive surgery. Still at the prototype stage, the SCALPP robot (computerized system for the harvesting of skin to be used in surgical procedures for burn victims and in orthopedic surgery), is a true small-scale revolution in the world of medical robotics. With specifications drawn up by the Laboratory of Data Processing, Robotics and Microelectronics of Montpellier, France (LIRMM CNRS-University of Montpellier II), it was designed in close partnership with the Burn Unit of the Hôpital Lapeyronie in Montpellier and built by Sinters.

The surgeon is responsible for grafting skin when skin grafts are necessary during reconstructive surgery. To do this, he must remove strips of skin from a healthy area on the patient, measuring 5 to 10 cm in width and several tenths of a millimeter in thickness, using an instrument known as the dermatome. These strips are then placed on the burned area or the wound to be covered. It is difficult to remove skin because the instrument must be maintained in regular contact with the skin while exerting considerable pressure, on the order of 100 Newtons, hence, the advantage of robotizing the movement. It just so happens that this innovative surgical support system is the answer to the need for a safe and reliable procedure in the operating room, linked to the constraints imposed by robot/patient and robot/surgeon interactions.

The system is characterized by a secure control rack and mechanical action as well as a simplified and ergonomic programming interface for optimal use in the operating room. It also has built in sensors and adapted commands, making it possible to regulate the force exerted between the dermatome and the skin.
SCALPP is presently in the process of being validated and finalized. This research, financed by the Languedoc-Roussillon Region and the Ministry of Research, was led by Etienne Dombre, research director at the CNRS and his team at LIRMM (Gilles Duchemin, François Pierrot and Philippe Poignet). They were just rewarded for their efforts with the regional Innovation-Research-Enterprise prize of the ADER-LR¹ in the area of "Materials Science and Technology", awarded on April 8, 2003, at the University of Montpellier II (that includes the LIRMM, in particular), for their work on SCALPP.

1 - Association for the development of teaching and research in the Languedoc-Roussillon region


The SCALPP Robot © LIRMM


Strip of skin removed with SCALPP © LIRMM

Researcher contact:
Etienne Dombre
Director of research at the CNRS
Tel: +33 4 67 41 85 58
E-mail: dombre@lirmm.fr

Press contact :
Laetitia Louis
Tel: +33 1 44 96 49 88
E-mail: laetitia.louis@cnrs-dir.fr