The lack of haptic feedback in Robot-assisted Minimally Invasive Surgery
(RMIS) is a potential barrier to safe tissue handling during surgery. Bayesian
modeling theory suggests that surgeons with experience in open or laparoscopic
surgery can develop priors of tissue stiffness that translate to better force
estimation abilities during RMIS compared to surgeons with no experience. To
test if prior haptic experience leads to improved force estimation ability in
teleoperation, 33 participants were assigned to one of three training
conditions: manual manipulation, teleoperation with force feedback, or
teleoperation without force feedback, and learned to tension a silicone sample
to a set of force values. They were then asked to perform the tension task, and
a previously unencountered palpation task, to a different set of force values
under teleoperation without force feedback. Compared to the teleoperation
groups, the manual group had higher force error in the tension task outside the
range of forces they had trained on, but showed better speed-accuracy functions
in the palpation task at low force levels. This suggests that the dynamics of
the training modality affect force estimation ability during teleoperation,
with the prior haptic experience accessible if formed under the same dynamics
as the task.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure