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Steadier Hands for Robot-Assisted Surgery

Robot-assisted surgical systems (or telerobotic surgical systems) are physical extensions of a surgeon. By controlling robotic fingers with movements of their own fingers, surgeons can perform intricate procedures remotely. Although surgeons control their telerobotic hands during operative procedures, accurately estimating how far these hands are from underlying tissue remains a challenge. Researchers from Texas A&M  have found that delivering electrical pulses to fingertips is an effective, yet simple to provide proximity information. Stimulation electrodes on a glove deliver distance information that allow a user to touch a test object with just the right amount of force.

Topics:
Automation Data Acquisition Medical Robotics Sensors

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    Transcript

    00:00:05 Imagine threading a needle while looking at your fingers reflected in a mirror. It’s not impossible but so much harder. Surgeons face a similar challenge when performing tele-robotic surgery. They must look into a monitor to match their finger movements with those of the robotic ones. It’s difficult to get a precise sense of how far the robotic fingers are from underlying structures like tiny blood vessels or the brain. We found a simple yet effective way to remedy this problem by using mild yet perceptible alternating electric current to stimulate fingertips. Frequency of alternating electric current increases as robotic fingers get closer to structures and decreases as they move further away.

    00:01:00 This technique might one day help surgeons sense how far their robotic fingers are from delicate structures. This is Hangue Park assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University.