A wrist-squeezing force-feedback system for robotic surgery training

Abstract

Over time, surgical trainees learn to compensate for the lack of haptic feedback in commercial robotic minimally invasive surgical systems. Incorporating touch cues into robotic surgery training could potentially shorten this learning process if the benefits of haptic feedback were sustained after it is removed. In this paper, we develop a wrist-squeezing haptic feedback system and evaluate whether it holds the potential to train novice da Vinci users to reduce the force they exert on a bimanual inanimate training task. Subjects were randomly divided into two groups according to a multiple baseline experimental design. Each of the ten participants moved a ring along a curved wire nine times while the haptic feedback was conditionally withheld, provided, and withheld again. The realtime tactile feedback of applied force magnitude significantly reduced the integral of the force produced by the da Vinci tools on the task materials, and this result remained even when the haptic feedback was removed. Overall, our findings suggest that wrist-squeezing force feedback can play an essential role in helping novice trainees learn to minimize the force they exert with a surgical robot.