A tactile enhancement instrument for minimally invasive surgery

Abstract

Objective: During minimally invasive arthroscopy, surgeons use probes as diagnostic tools to detect tissue anomalies. Improving tactile sensitivity during this activity would be valuable.

Materials and methods: We developed an enhanced probe that could enhance the tactile sensations experienced while probing objects. It operated by detecting the acceleration signal resulting from the interaction of the tool tip with surfaces and by magnifying it for tactile and auditory reproduction. The instrument consisted of an accelerometer and an actuator arranged such that the sensing direction was orthogonal to the actuating direction so as to decouple input from output. Using the instrument, subjects were asked to detect cuts under four conditions: with no amplification, with enhanced tactile feedback, with sound feedback, and with passive touch.

Results: We found that for tactile reproduction, the current prototype could amplify the signals by 10 dB on average. Results from statistical methods showed significant improvements in performance in the case of tactile and auditory feedbacks.

Conclusion: We developed a surgical probe with tactile and auditory feedbacks. Despite the moderate system gain achievable with the initial prototype, the system could measurably improve users' ability to detect small cuts in cartilage-like elastic surfaces.