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How does haptic perception apply to minimally invasive surgery?
In any highly skilled manipulation task, haptic perception — which
literally means "to grasp something" — is critical to achieve
desired manipulation outcomes. In minimally invasive surgery,
knowledge of the pressure applied to tissue, the tightness of a
suture knot and the forces of cutting can be critical to patient
outcomes. The science of haptic perception helps us under-
stand the link between what we sense, and how we manipu-
late the environment.
What sparked your interest in developing haptic feedback
technology?
I come from the robotics field, where an important goal
is to enable robots with the sense of touch, so that they
can autonomously interact with their environments.
However, I found the potential to enhance the human
sense of touch in environments ranging from virtual reality
to the operating room even more exciting.
Will robotic surgeons someday "feel" anatomy?
With haptic feedback, the surgeon would feel the interaction
between the robot and the surgical environment, including tis-
sue, suture, needles and other instruments. Most research on
haptics in robotic surgery has been devoted to providing kines-
thetic feedback, which means motors in the control console
apply forces to the surgeon's arms and hands that attempt to
match sensed forces between the robot and the surgical field.
utting Surgeons
In Touch With Minimally Invasive Surgery
P
Allison Okamura, PhD
Mechanical engineer and robotics researcher
