Robot-Assisted Minimally Invasive Surgical Skill Assessment—Manual and Automated Platforms

Abstract

The practice of Robot-Assisted Minimally Invasive Surgery (RAMIS) requires
\nextensive skills from the human surgeons due to the special input device control, such as
\nmoving the surgical instruments, use of buttons, knobs, foot pedals and so. The global
\npopularity of RAMIS created the need to objectively assess surgical skills, not just for
\nquality assurance reasons, but for training feedback as well. Nowadays, there is still
\nno routine surgical skill assessment happening during RAMIS training and education in
\nthe clinical practice. In this paper, a review of the manual and automated RAMIS skill
\nassessment techniques is provided, focusing on their general applicability, robustness and
\nclinical relevance.