Role of combined tactile and kinesthetic feedback in minimally invasive surgery

• Published in: The international journal of medical robotics + computer assisted surgery Vol. 11; no. 3; pp. 360 - 374
• Main Authors: Lim, Soo-Chul, Lee, Hyung-Kew, Park, Joonah
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.09.2015; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Control systems; Control theory; Feedback; haptic feedback; haptic interface; Haptics; kinesthetic feedback; minimally invasive surgery; Robotics; Robots; sensory integration; shear force; Surgeons; surgical robot; Tactile; tactile display; tactile feedback; Telesurgery; sensory integration; minimally invasive surgery; tactile feedback; kinesthetic feedback; tactile display; surgical robot; haptic feedback; shear force; haptic interface
• ISSN: 1478-5951; 1478-596X
• DOI: 10.1002/rcs.1625

ABSTRACT Background Haptic feedback is of critical importance in surgical tasks. However, conventional surgical robots do not provide haptic feedback to surgeons during surgery. Thus, in this study, a combined tactile and kinesthetic feedback system was developed to provide haptic feedback to surgeons during robotic surgery. Methods To assess haptic feasibility, the effects of two types of haptic feedback were examined empirically – kinesthetic and tactile feedback – to measure object‐pulling force with a telesurgery robotics system at two desired pulling forces (1 N and 2 N). Participants answered a set of questionnaires after experiments. Results The experimental results reveal reductions in force error (39.1% and 40.9%) when using haptic feedback during 1 N and 2 N pulling tasks. Moreover, survey analyses show the effectiveness of the haptic feedback during teleoperation. Conclusions The combined tactile and kinesthetic feedback of the master device in robotic surgery improves the surgeon's ability to control the interaction force applied to the tissue. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.