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However, there is also potential to provide tactile feedback if more detailed and
distributed contact information could be sensed and displayed.
In what scenarios would haptic feedback prove valuable?
Where visualization is occluded or insufficient, during exploration tasks such
as tissue palpation and during manipulation tasks when the surgeon's focus
should be on the targeted anatomy instead of, say, a retracting instrument.
Pulling on suture may not give clear visual signals about how much the suture
is stretching or slipping within the instrument's grasp — that's where haptic
feedback comes into play.
Could the technology someday improve manual surgery?
Researchers have definitely attempted to add haptic feedback to manual instru-
ments such as laparoscopes, although it's challenging due to the necessity of the
same instrument contacting the surgeon and the patient. As haptic feedback
technology improves, in both the teleoperation and direct manipulation con-
texts, I certainly expect it to enhance the feel and use of a laparoscope.
OSM
Dr. Okamura (aokamura@stanford.edu) is a professor of mechanical
engineering at Stanford University and director of the school's Center for
Design Research's Collaborative Haptics and Robotics in Medicine (CHARM) Lab.
