Motor channelling is a concept to provide na-
vigation and sensory feedback to operators in master-slave
surgical setups. It is beneficial since the introduction of robotic
surgery creates a physical separation between the surgeon
and patient anatomy. Active Constraints/Virtual Fixtures are
proposed which integrate Guidance and Forbidden Region
Constraints into a unified control framework. The developed
approach provides guidance and safe manipulation to improve
precision and reduce the risk of inadvertent tissue damage.
Online three-degree-of-freedom motion prediction and compen-
sation of the target anatomy is performed to complement the
master constraints. The presented Active Constraints concept
is applied to two clinical scenarios; surface scanning for
in situ
medical imaging and vessel manipulation in cardiac
surgery. The proposed motor channelling control strategy is
implemented on the da Vinci Surgical System using the da Vinci
Research Kit (dVRK) and its effectiveness is demonstrated
through a detailed user study.