How to enhance learning of robotic surgery gestures? A tactile cue saliency investigation for 3D hand guidance

TL;DR

This paper explores enhancing robotic surgery training by integrating haptic feedback to improve gesture learning, presenting initial promising results of a dedicated haptic device for surgical skill acquisition.

Contribution

It introduces a novel haptic device aimed at supporting surgical gesture training and investigates tactile cue saliency for 3D hand guidance in robotic surgery.

Findings

Initial results show promise in using haptic cues for surgical training

The haptic device supports gesture learning in robotic surgery

Ongoing integration with RAVEN II platform enhances training capabilities

Abstract

The current generation of surgeons requires extensive training in teleoperation to develop specific dexterous skills, which are independent of medical knowledge. Training curricula progress from manipulation tasks to simulated surgical tasks but are limited in time. To tackle this, we propose to integrate surgical robotic training together with Haptic Feedback (HF) to improve skill acquisition. This paper present the initial but promising results of our haptic device designed to support in the training of surgical gestures. Our ongoing work is related to integrate the HF in the RAVEN II platform.