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Robotics and Haptics: Haptic Feedback for Medical Robots

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A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Sensors and Robotics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2024) | Viewed by 17404

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Min Li

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Guest Editor

Institute of Engineering and Medicine Interdisciplinary Studies and the State Key Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China
Interests: robots for stroke rehabilitation; brain–computer interface; haptic feedback
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Wei Yao

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Guest Editor

Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK
Interests: medical robotics; navigation; medical imaging; tracking and surgical technology

Dr. Shan Luo

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Guest Editor

Department of Computer Science, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
Interests: tactile sensing; robot perception; visual-tactile learning

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Touch is one of the most basic and immediate senses we possess. Haptic feedback allows us to make instinctive and subconscious decisions. Many robotic fields related to medical applications can benefit from haptics. Haptic sensing and feedback is a useful tool to solve the problem of limited sense of touch in robot-assisted surgery. With the help of haptic feedback, medical simulators, including robotic training phantoms, enable advanced physical examination training and surgical training before using human patients. Adding haptic feedback to prosthetics can enhance the functions of prosthetics and help people who use prosthetics to expend less mental effort while carrying out tasks. Haptic feedback can also provide more sensation cues during robot-assisted rehabilitation training, subsequently leading to improved motor relearning of post-stroke patients. This Special Issue intends to include studies related to haptic sensing and feedback for medical robots such as medical simulators, rehabilitation robots, prosthetics, and robotics for surgery.

Topics of interest for this Special Issue include, but are not limited to:

Methods of haptic/tactile sensing for medical robots;
Novel haptic/tactile sensors for medical robots;
Developments of haptic/tactile feedback devices for medical robots;
Methods of haptic/tactile feedback for medical robots;
Clinical studies on haptic-related medical robots.

Dr. Min Li
Dr. Wei Yao
Dr. Shan Luo
Guest Editors

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Keywords

haptic sensing
haptic feedback
haptic devices
rehabilitation robotics
prosthetics
surgical robotics
robotic training phantoms
medical simulators
medical robotics

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 3064 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Virtual Needle Insertion with Enhanced Haptic Feedback for Guidance and Needle–Tissue Interaction Forces

by Mostafa Selim, Douwe Dresscher and Momen Abayazid

Sensors 2024, 24(17), 5560; https://doi.org/10.3390/s24175560 - 28 Aug 2024

Viewed by 399

Abstract

Interventional radiologists mainly rely on visual feedback via imaging modalities to steer a needle toward a tumor during biopsy and ablation procedures. In the case of CT-guided procedures, there is a risk of exposure to hazardous X-ray-based ionizing radiation. Therefore, CT scans are usually not used continuously, which increases the chances of a misplacement of the needle and the need for reinsertion, leading to more tissue trauma. Interventionalists also encounter haptic feedback via needle–tissue interaction forces while steering a needle. These forces are useful but insufficient to clearly perceive and identify deep-tissue structures such as tumors. The objective of this paper was to investigate the effect of enhanced force feedback for sensing interaction forces and guiding the needle when applied individually and simultaneously during a virtual CT-guided needle insertion task. We also compared the enhanced haptic feedback to enhanced visual feedback. We hypothesized that enhancing the haptic feedback limits the time needed to reach the target accurately and reduces the number of CT scans, as the interventionalist depends more on real-time enhanced haptic feedback. To test the hypothesis, a simulation environment was developed to virtually steer a needle in five degrees of freedom (DoF) to reach a tumor target embedded in a liver model. Twelve participants performed in the experiment with different feedback conditions where we measured their performance in terms of the following: targeting accuracy, trajectory tracking, number of CT scans required, and the time needed to finish the task. The results suggest that the combination of enhanced haptic feedback for guidance and sensing needle–tissue interaction forces significantly reduce the number of scans and the duration required to finish the task by 32.1% and 46.9%, respectively, when compared to nonenhanced haptic feedback. The other feedback modalities significantly reduced the duration to finish the task by around 30% compared to nonenhanced haptic feedback. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Robotics and Haptics: Haptic Feedback for Medical Robots)

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22 pages, 4451 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Transparent Teleoperated Robotic Surgical System with Predictive Haptic Feedback and Force Modelling

by Taran Batty, Armin Ehrampoosh, Bijan Shirinzadeh, Yongmin Zhong and Julian Smith

Sensors 2022, 22(24), 9770; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22249770 - 13 Dec 2022

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2490

Abstract

In recent years, robotic minimally invasive surgery has transformed many types of surgical procedures and improved their outcomes. Implementing effective haptic feedback into a teleoperated robotic surgical system presents a significant challenge due to the trade-off between transparency and stability caused by system communication time delays. In this paper, these time delays are mitigated by implementing an environment estimation and force prediction methodology into an experimental robotic minimally invasive surgical system. At the slave, an exponentially weighted recursive least squares (EWRLS) algorithm estimates the respective parameters of the Kelvin–Voigt (KV) and Hunt–Crossley (HC) force models. The master then provides force feedback by interacting with a virtual environment via the estimated parameters. Palpation experiments were conducted with the slave in contact with polyurethane foam during human-in-the-loop teleoperation. The experimental results indicated that the prediction RMSE of error between predicted master force feedback and measured slave force was reduced to 0.076 N for the Hunt–Crossley virtual environment, compared to 0.356 N for the Kelvin–Voigt virtual environment and 0.560 N for the direct force feedback methodology. The results also demonstrated that the HC force model is well suited to provide accurate haptic feedback, particularly when there is a delay between the master and slave kinematics. Furthermore, a haptic feedback approach that incorporates environment estimation and force prediction improve transparency during teleoperation. In conclusion, the proposed bilateral master–slave robotic system has the potential to provide transparent and stable haptic feedback to the surgeon in surgical robotics procedures. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Robotics and Haptics: Haptic Feedback for Medical Robots)

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15 pages, 6184 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Interactive 3D Force/Torque Parameter Acquisition and Correlation Identification during Primary Trocar Insertion in Laparoscopic Abdominal Surgery: 5 Cases

by Nantida Nillahoot, Branesh M. Pillai, Bibhu Sharma, Chumpon Wilasrusmee and Jackrit Suthakorn

Sensors 2022, 22(22), 8970; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22228970 - 19 Nov 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2064

Abstract

Laparoscopic procedures have become indispensable in gastrointestinal surgery. As a minimally invasive process, it begins with primary trocar insertion. However, this step poses the threat of injuries to the gastrointestinal tract and blood vessels. As such, the comprehension of the insertion process is crucial to the development of robotic-assisted/automated surgeries. To sustain robotic development, this research aims to study the interactive force/torque (F/T) behavior between the trocar and the abdomen during the trocar insertion process. For force/torque (F/T) data acquisition, a trocar interfaced with a six-axis F/T sensor was used by surgeons for the insertion. The study was conducted during five abdominal hernia surgical cases in the Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University. The real-time F/T data were further processed and analyzed. The fluctuation in the force/torque (F/T) parameter was significant, with peak force ranging from 16.83 N to 61.86 N and peak torque ranging from 0.552 Nm to 1.76 Nm. The force parameter was observed to positively correlate with procedural time, while torque was found to be negatively correlated. Although during the process a surgeon applied force and torque in multiple axes, for a robotic system, the push and turn motion in a single axis was observed to be sufficient. For minimal tissue damage in less procedural time, a system with low push force and high torque was observed to be advantageous. These understandings will eventually benefit the development of computer-assisted or robotics technology to improve the outcome of the primary trocar insertion procedure. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Robotics and Haptics: Haptic Feedback for Medical Robots)

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20 pages, 7843 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

A Force-Feedback Methodology for Teleoperated Suturing Task in Robotic-Assisted Minimally Invasive Surgery

by Armin Ehrampoosh, Bijan Shirinzadeh, Joshua Pinskier, Julian Smith, Randall Moshinsky and Yongmin Zhong

Sensors 2022, 22(20), 7829; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22207829 - 14 Oct 2022

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3318

Abstract

With robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgery (RAMIS), patients and surgeons benefit from a reduced incision size and dexterous instruments. However, current robotic surgery platforms lack haptic feedback, which is an essential element of safe operation. Moreover, teleportation control challenges make complex surgical tasks like suturing more time-consuming than those that use manual tools. This paper presents a new force-sensing instrument that semi-automates the suturing task and facilitates teleoperated robotic manipulation. In order to generate the ideal needle insertion trajectory and pass the needle through its curvature, the end-effector mechanism has a rotating degree of freedom. Impedance control was used to provide sensory information about needle–tissue interaction forces to the operator using an indirect force estimation approach based on data-based models. The operator’s motion commands were then regulated using a hyperplanar virtual fixture (VF) designed to maintain the desired distance between the end-effector and tissue surface while avoiding unwanted contact. To construct the geometry of the VF, an optoelectronic sensor-based approach was developed. Based on the experimental investigation of the hyperplane VF methodology, improved needle–tissue interaction force, manipulation accuracy, and task completion times were demonstrated. Finally, experimental validation of the trained force estimation models and the perceived interaction forces by the user was conducted using online data, demonstrating the potential of the developed approach in improving task performance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Robotics and Haptics: Haptic Feedback for Medical Robots)

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28 pages, 13414 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Novel Untethered Hand Wearable with Fine-Grained Cutaneous Haptic Feedback

by Alexander Co Abad, David Reid and Anuradha Ranasinghe

Sensors 2022, 22(5), 1924; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22051924 - 1 Mar 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 6110

Abstract

During open surgery, a surgeon relies not only on the detailed view of the organ being operated upon and on being able to feel the fine details of this organ but also heavily relies on the combination of these two senses. In laparoscopic surgery, haptic feedback provides surgeons information on interaction forces between instrument and tissue. There have been many studies to mimic the haptic feedback in laparoscopic-related telerobotics studies to date. However, cutaneous feedback is mostly restricted or limited in haptic feedback-based minimally invasive studies. We argue that fine-grained information is needed in laparoscopic surgeries to study the details of the instrument’s end and can convey via cutaneous feedback. We propose an exoskeleton haptic hand wearable which consists of five 4 × 4 miniaturized fingertip actuators, 80 in total, to convey cutaneous feedback. The wearable is described as modular, lightweight, Bluetooth, and WiFi-enabled, and has a maximum power consumption of 830 mW. Software is developed to demonstrate rapid tactile actuation of edges; this allows the user to feel the contours in cutaneous feedback. Moreover, to demonstrate the idea as an object displayed on a flat monitor, initial tests were carried out in 2D. In the second phase, the wearable exoskeleton glove is then further developed to feel 3D virtual objects by using a virtual reality (VR) headset demonstrated by a VR environment. Two-dimensional and 3D objects were tested by our novel untethered haptic hand wearable. Our results show that untethered humans understand actuation in cutaneous feedback just in a single tapping with 92.22% accuracy. Our wearable has an average latency of 46.5 ms, which is much less than the 600 ms tolerable delay acceptable by a surgeon in teleoperation. Therefore, we suggest our untethered hand wearable to enhance multimodal perception in minimally invasive surgeries to naturally feel the immediate environments of the instruments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Robotics and Haptics: Haptic Feedback for Medical Robots)

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Review

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22 pages, 6521 KiB

Open AccessReview

Static and Dynamic Hand Gestures: A Review of Techniques of Virtual Reality Manipulation

by Oswaldo Mendoza Herbert, David Pérez-Granados, Mauricio Alberto Ortega Ruiz, Rodrigo Cadena Martínez, Carlos Alberto González Gutiérrez and Marco Antonio Zamora Antuñano

Sensors 2024, 24(12), 3760; https://doi.org/10.3390/s24123760 - 9 Jun 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1065

Abstract

This review explores the historical and current significance of gestures as a universal form of communication with a focus on hand gestures in virtual reality applications. It highlights the evolution of gesture detection systems from the 1990s, which used computer algorithms to find patterns in static images, to the present day where advances in sensor technology, artificial intelligence, and computing power have enabled real-time gesture recognition. The paper emphasizes the role of hand gestures in virtual reality (VR), a field that creates immersive digital experiences through the Ma blending of 3D modeling, sound effects, and sensing technology. This review presents state-of-the-art hardware and software techniques used in hand gesture detection, primarily for VR applications. It discusses the challenges in hand gesture detection, classifies gestures as static and dynamic, and grades their detection difficulty. This paper also reviews the haptic devices used in VR and their advantages and challenges. It provides an overview of the process used in hand gesture acquisition, from inputs and pre-processing to pose detection, for both static and dynamic gestures. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Robotics and Haptics: Haptic Feedback for Medical Robots)

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