Optimization of a Pneumatic Balloon Tactile Display for Robot-Assisted Surgery Based on Human Perception

Robot-assisted surgery is characterized by a total loss of haptic feedback, requiring surgeons to rely solely on visual cues. A compact, flexible, and lightweight pneumatic balloon tactile display has been developed suitable for mounting on robotic surgical master controls. The tactile display consists of a molded polydimethylsiloxane substrate with cylindrical channels and a spin-coated silicone film that forms the array of balloons. Human perceptual studies were conducted to determine the optimal diameter, spatial resolution, and temporal resolution of the balloon actuator design. A balloon diameter of 3.0 mm provided the highest average accuracy (ges 95%) while offering five detectable inflation levels. Spatial accuracy in a two-actuator discrimination task reached 100% with 1.5 mm edge-to-edge spacing, and the accuracy of determining the order of two successive stimuli was greater than 90% when the time separation was 100 ms. Design optimization based on the results from this study enables the described tactile display to provide the effective tactile feedback that is otherwise unavailable during robotic surgery.

[1]  Christopher R. Wagner,et al.  The role of force feedback in surgery: analysis of blunt dissection , 2002, Proceedings 10th Symposium on Haptic Interfaces for Virtual Environment and Teleoperator Systems. HAPTICS 2002.

[2]  K. Sato,et al.  Development of non-constrained master arm with tactile feedback device , 1991, Fifth International Conference on Advanced Robotics 'Robots in Unstructured Environments.

[3]  K. Moorthy,et al.  The benfits of stereoscopic vision in robotic-assisted performance on bench models , 2004, Surgical Endoscopy And Other Interventional Techniques.

[4]  G. Ballantyne.  Robotic surgery, telerobotic surgery, telepresence, and telementoring. Review of early clinical results. , 2002, Surgical endoscopy.

[5]  G. Ballantyne.  Robotic surgery, telerobotic surgery, telepresence, and telementoring , 2002, Surgical Endoscopy And Other Interventional Techniques.

[6]  Y. Ikei,et al.  Texture presentation by vibratory tactile display-image based presentation of a tactile texture , 1997, Proceedings of IEEE 1997 Annual International Symposium on Virtual Reality.

[7]  D. Beebe,et al.  A microfabricated electrostatic haptic display for persons with visual impairments. , 1998, IEEE transactions on rehabilitation engineering : a publication of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.

[8]  F. Vidal-Verdu,et al.  Thermopneumatic actuator for tactile displays and smart actuation circuitry , 2005, SPIE Microtechnologies.

[9]  A. Goodwin,et al.  Encoding of object curvature by tactile afferents from human fingers. , 1997, Journal of neurophysiology.

[10]  A. Darzi,et al.  Dexterity enhancement with robotic surgery , 2004, Surgical Endoscopy And Other Interventional Techniques.

[11]  D. Yuh,et al.  Effect of sensory substitution on suture-manipulation forces for robotic surgical systems. , 2005, The Journal of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery.

[12]  R. Satava.  Surgical Robotics: The Early Chronicles: A Personal Historical Perspective , 2002, Surgical laparoscopy, endoscopy & percutaneous techniques.

[13]  A. Castellanos,et al.  Force Feedback Plays a Significant Role in Minimally Invasive Surgery: Results and Analysis , 2005, Annals of surgery.

[14]  Warren S. Grundfest,et al.  Fabrication and Characterization of a Balloon Actuator Array for Haptic Feedback in Robotic Surgery , 2008 .

[15]  Robert D. Howe,et al.  A tactile shape sensing and display system for teleoperated manipulation , 1995, Proceedings of 1995 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[16]  Christopher R. Wagner,et al.  Force Feedback Benefit Depends on Experience in Multiple Degree of Freedom Robotic Surgery Task , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Robotics.

[17]  Jacques Marescaux,et al.  Transatlantic robot-assisted telesurgery , 2001, Nature.

[18]  I. Hirsh,et al.  Perceived order in different sense modalities. , 1961, Journal of experimental psychology.

[19]  Allison M. Okamura,et al.  Analysis of Suture Manipulation Forces for Teleoperation with Force Feedback , 2002, MICCAI.

[20]  Fumihito Arai,et al.  Micro resonator using electromagnetic actuator for tactile display , 1997, 1997 International Symposium on Micromechanics and Human Science (Cat. No.97TH8311).

[21]  Ronald S. Fearing,et al.  Tactile feedback for teleoperation , 1993, Other Conferences.

[22]  Nikolaos G. Tsagarakis,et al.  An integrated tactile/shear feedback array for stimulation of finger mechanoreceptor , 1999, Proceedings 1999 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.99CH36288C).

[23]  F A Wichmann,et al.  Ning for Helpful Comments and Suggestions. This Paper Benefited Con- Siderably from Conscientious Peer Review, and We Thank Our Reviewers the Psychometric Function: I. Fitting, Sampling, and Goodness of Fit , 2001 .

[24]  Paul M. Taylor,et al.  An electrorheological fluid-based tactile array for virtual environments , 1996, Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[25]  Warren S. Grundfest,et al.  A Pneumatic Haptic Feedback Actuator Array for Robotic Surgery or Simulation , 2007, MMVR.

[26]  Christopher R. Wagner,et al.  A tactile shape display using RC servomotors , 2002, Proceedings 10th Symposium on Haptic Interfaces for Virtual Environment and Teleoperator Systems. HAPTICS 2002.

[27]  A. Lanfranco,et al.  Robotic Surgery: A Current Perspective , 2004, Annals of surgery.

[28]  Satoshi Shibuya,et al.  Effects of visual stimuli on temporal order judgments of unimanual finger stimuli , 2007, Experimental Brain Research.

[29]  J. Marescaux,et al.  Telerobotic Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy: Initial Clinical Experience With 25 Patients , 2001, Annals of surgery.

[30]  B. Davies,et al.  Robotic surgery , 1993, IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine.

[31]  Christopher R. Wagner,et al.  A compliant tactile display for teletaction , 2000, Proceedings 2000 ICRA. Millennium Conference. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. Symposia Proceedings (Cat. No.00CH37065).

[32]  Naoki Kawakami,et al.  Electrocutaneous display as an interface to a virtual tactile world , 2001, Proceedings IEEE Virtual Reality 2001.