Evaluation of contactless human–machine interface for robotic surgical training

Purpose Teleoperated robotic systems are nowadays routinely used for specific interventions. Benefits of robotic training courses have already been acknowledged by the community since manipulation of such systems requires dedicated training. However, robotic surgical simulators remain expensive and require a dedicated human–machine interface. Methods We present a low-cost contactless optical sensor, the Leap Motion, as a novel control device to manipulate the RAVEN-II robot. We compare peg manipulations during a training task with a contact-based device, the electro-mechanical Sigma.7. We perform two complementary analyses to quantitatively assess the performance of each control method: a metric-based comparison and a novel unsupervised spatiotemporal trajectory clustering. Results We show that contactless control does not offer as good manipulability as the contact-based. Where part of the metric-based evaluation presents the mechanical control better than the contactless one, the unsupervised spatiotemporal trajectory clustering from the surgical tool motions highlights specific signature inferred by the human–machine interfaces. Conclusions Even if the current implementation of contactless control does not overtake manipulation with high-standard mechanical interface, we demonstrate that using the optical sensor complete control of the surgical instruments is feasible. The proposed method allows fine tracking of the trainee’s hands in order to execute dexterous laparoscopic training gestures. This work is promising for development of future human–machine interfaces dedicated to robotic surgical training systems

A Force Controlled Laparoscopic Surgical Robot without Distal Force Sensing

International audienceAs robot applications in humane nvironments increase, we see many interesting application in medicine. Thesei nclude robotic technologies used in robot-doctor interfaces for minimally invasive surgery and novel roboticdevices that can navigatei nsideh umanbodies.This chapter presents 3 interestingarticles representing the various facets of medical robotics.Papers in other chapters, however,alsodescribemedicalapplications of robotics. The first article by Zemetiand co-workers presents the designand analysis of a Minimally InvasiveSurgery robot.The trocar is designed withforcemeasurement capability, where the force sensor is placed outside the patient – " to reducecost and sterilizibility requirements ". This paper presents the results of the feasibility experiments. In the next article,D ario and colleagues take medical robotics a step further into the futureby reportingo n the concept and the preliminary modelingo fl egged micro robot locomoting in a tubular, slippery and compliant environment.The intendedapplication is for the microrobots ton avigatei nside the gastrointestinal tract for diagnosis and therapy.The microcapsules ared esigned tobei ngestible and then tomake its way to the gastrointestinal tract.The new contributionbeing studied herei s the micro robot's capability of effectivel ocomotion while inside the humanbody. The thirdarticle by Casals, et al .p resents amultimodalapproach toh uman-machine interface,a pplied t om edical robotics.This carries a similar idea to the first article in Chapter XIIIb y Iba et al , under the heading of Haptics and Augmented Reality.The ideais top rovide a rangeo fm ediaof communication between the surgeonand the robots, thus creating aquasi-hands-free control of the equipments.This would allow the surgeon tobetter control the equipments in the operating room without losing too muchf ocus on the taskat hand. The mode of interactionbeing studiedi s gesture recognition, witho ther modes available such as: tactile, speech,pedals,etc. Abstract. Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) challenges the surgeon's skills due to his separation from the operation area which can be reached with long instruments only. Therefore, the surgeon loses access to the manipulation forces inside the patient. This reduces his dexterity when performing the operation. A new compact and lightweight robot for MIS is presented which allows for the measurement of manipulation forces. The main advantage of this concept is that no miniaturized force sensor has to be integrated into surgical instruments and inserted into the patient. Rather, a standard sensor is attached to a modified trocar outside the patient, which allows for the measurement of manipulation forces. This approach reduces costs and sterilizability demands. Results of first force control experiments are presented to show the feasibility of the concepts

Path planning for steerable needles using duty-cycled spinning

This paper presents an adaptive approach for 2D path planning of steerable needles. It combines dutycycled rotation of the needle with the classic RapidlyExploring Random Tree (RRT) algorithm and it is used intraoperatively to compensate for system uncertainties and perturbations. Simulation results demonstrate the performance of the proposed motion planner on a workspace based in ultrasound images

Adaptive path planning for steerable needles using duty-cycling

International audienceThis paper presents an adaptive approach for 2D motion planning of steerable needles. It combines duty-cycled rotation of the needle with the classic Rapidly-Exploring Random Tree (RRT) algorithm to obtain fast calculation of feasible trajectories. The motion planning is used intraoperatively at each cycle to compensate for system uncertainties and perturbations. Simulation results demonstrate the performance of the proposed motion planner on a workspace based on ultrasound images

Active stabilization of ultrasound image for robotically-assisted medical procedures

In the context of robotic assistance to medical gestures, we propose solutions to stabilize the ultrasound (US) image by actively compensating for the physiological motions of the patient. The considered applications ar