Ungrounded haptic-feedback for hand-held surgical robots
File(s)
Author(s)
Payne, Christopher
Type
Thesis
Abstract
Surgical robotic technology has evolved over the last few decades: from autonomous systems, to master-slave and cooperatively-controlled assistive robots. Whilst these various
approaches have proven to be technically successful, clinical adoption of robotic technology
remains moderate, largely as a result of the financial cost of such technology. An alternative
approach that has been recently explored is the integration of mechatronic technology in to
surgical devices that are held by the hands of the surgeon and are unattached to a grounding
frame. These ungrounded hand-held devices exploit the existing dexterity of the surgeon’s
hand that allows them to be simpler, physically compact, lower cost, more easily integrated
in to the surgical workflow and with fewer barriers to clinical translation.
This thesis explores the use of mechatronic technology in ungrounded, hand-held surgical
tools for the purpose of augmenting a surgeon’s haptic perception. During microsurgery in
particular, the tool-tissue manipulation forces are often so low that they cannot be perceived
by the operating surgeon. This thesis initially proposes a hand-held device that can amplify
these sub-threshold forces to magnitudes that can be perceived by human subjects. The
mechatronic force amplification concept is further evolved for use in microsurgical forceps
designs. In this case, haptic perception is diminished by the elastic spring return of the
forceps which is significantly greater in magnitude than the micro-scale manipulation forces.
Having investigated the force amplification concept, vibrotactile-based feedback of predefined force-thresholds is investigated. The concept is studied through the clinical exemplar
of microneurosurgery: a device is proposed which can inform the operating surgeon if they
are exerting excessive force based on a force threshold at which iatrogenic injury of
neurovascular tissue is known to occur. Finally, an ungrounded force-feedback strategy is
investigated for use with a hand-held device that incorporates position-based active
constraints of the tool tip.
approaches have proven to be technically successful, clinical adoption of robotic technology
remains moderate, largely as a result of the financial cost of such technology. An alternative
approach that has been recently explored is the integration of mechatronic technology in to
surgical devices that are held by the hands of the surgeon and are unattached to a grounding
frame. These ungrounded hand-held devices exploit the existing dexterity of the surgeon’s
hand that allows them to be simpler, physically compact, lower cost, more easily integrated
in to the surgical workflow and with fewer barriers to clinical translation.
This thesis explores the use of mechatronic technology in ungrounded, hand-held surgical
tools for the purpose of augmenting a surgeon’s haptic perception. During microsurgery in
particular, the tool-tissue manipulation forces are often so low that they cannot be perceived
by the operating surgeon. This thesis initially proposes a hand-held device that can amplify
these sub-threshold forces to magnitudes that can be perceived by human subjects. The
mechatronic force amplification concept is further evolved for use in microsurgical forceps
designs. In this case, haptic perception is diminished by the elastic spring return of the
forceps which is significantly greater in magnitude than the micro-scale manipulation forces.
Having investigated the force amplification concept, vibrotactile-based feedback of predefined force-thresholds is investigated. The concept is studied through the clinical exemplar
of microneurosurgery: a device is proposed which can inform the operating surgeon if they
are exerting excessive force based on a force threshold at which iatrogenic injury of
neurovascular tissue is known to occur. Finally, an ungrounded force-feedback strategy is
investigated for use with a hand-held device that incorporates position-based active
constraints of the tool tip.
Version
Open Access
Date Issued
2015-04
Date Awarded
2015-09
Copyright Statement
Attribution NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence (CC BY-ND)
Advisor
Yang, Guang-Zhong
Darzi, Ara
Sponsor
Wates Foundation
Publisher Department
Computing
Publisher Institution
Imperial College London
Qualification Level
Doctoral
Qualification Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)