New pneumatic actuators developed in the author's laboratory will be presented with their applications to new mechatronics. Examples of them are a pneumatic rubber actuator for compliant robots, a micro pneumatic tube actuator assisting the colonscope insertion, a pneumatic stepping motor with high torque and resolution, a pneumatic drive bicycle, an intelligent pneumatic cylinder which has enc...

A thorough understanding of needle-tissue interaction mechanics is necessary to optimize needle design, achieve robotically needle steering, and establish surgical simulation system. It is obvious that the interaction is influenced by numerous variable parameters, which are divided into three categories: needle geometries, insertion methods, and tissue characteristics. A series of experiments a...