TMINI (knee replacement robot)

2023: Market Entry

In early June 2023, THINK Surgical, in collaboration with Sagentia Innovation, launched the TMINI miniature robotic system on the market. The device represents a surgical instrument for total knee replacement.

The TMINI mini-robot automatically compensates for the surgeon's hand movement to locate bone pins in precisely defined planes. Then cutting guides are connected to bone pins for accurate bone resection. Along with ease of use, TMINI can replace many of the tools used for knee replacement surgeries. The key element of the device is the paired interaction between the camera located above the site of the operation and the tip.

TMINI (knee replacement robot)

Consultants from Sagentia Innovation have been selected by THINK Surgical as the primary development partners for TMINI. Part of their duties required the development of a turnkey subsystem (TMINI robotic tip, charger), which included the development of electrical, mechanical and software from concept to verification, pilot assembly and transfer to production.

Sagentia Innovation's TMINI project manager Tim Freerson, explained that the delay was challenging. To achieve the required high-performance control when controlling the delay associated with positional measurements by the optical tracking system, we had to introduce a configurable filter into the motion control loop that is performed on TMINI. Freerson explained that this filter is used to control the response of the response system to the delayed input signal from the optical tracking system, while allowing the control system itself to provide a strong deviation of perturbations. Freerson added that the size and weight of the hand-held TMINI device represented another challenge requiring control of competing requirements, such as the balance between ease of use and available power, engine torque and battery life. This led to a sophisticated electromechanical design at TMINI that required non-standard solutions to ensure the sterility of the manual part, control of fixed and movable wires, and interconnection of interface interfaces. Sagentia Innovation solved these problems through theoretical modeling, prototype testing, validation, and design iteration.

The battery of the TMINI Smart Cell device will not work with the TMINI manual device if its capacity is not enough for one full surgical procedure. The electronics and software for the TMINI Smart Cell were designed in such a way that the battery capacity must be above a certain threshold, otherwise it will not allow pairing with the tracker during setup.^[1]

Notes