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Review
. 2019 Jul:78:270-276.
doi: 10.1016/j.apergo.2018.02.011. Epub 2018 Mar 2.

Human factors in robotic assisted surgery: Lessons from studies 'in the Wild'

Ken Catchpole  1 , Ann Bisantz  2 , M Susan Hallbeck  3 , Matthias Weigl  4 , Rebecca Randell  5 , Merrick Kossack  6 , Jennifer T Anger  7
Affiliations
Review

Human factors in robotic assisted surgery: Lessons from studies 'in the Wild'

Ken Catchpole et al. Appl Ergon. 2019 Jul.

Abstract

This article reviews studies conducted "in the wild" that explore the "ironies of automation" in Robotic Assisted Surgery (RAS). Workload may be reduced for the surgeon, but increased for other team members, with postural stress relocated rather than reduced, and the introduction of a range of new challenges, for example, in the need to control multiple arms, with multiple instruments; and the increased demands of being physically separated from the team. Workflow disruptions were not compared with other surgeries; however, the prevalence of equipment and training disruptions differs from other types of surgeries. A consistent observation is that communication and coordination problems are relatively frequent, suggesting that the surgical team may need to be trained to use specific verbal and non-verbal cues during surgery. RAS also changes the necessary size of the operating room instrument cleaning processes. These studies demonstrate the value of clinically-based human factors engineers working alongside surgical teams to improve the delivery of RAS.

Keywords: Automation; Human factors; Robotics; Surgery; Teamwork; Workload.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: Dr. Anger declares that she is an Investigator and Expert Witness for Boston Scientific, Inc. Authors Catchpole, Bisantz, Hallbeck, Weigl, Randell and Kossack declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The SEIPS model applied to system-level RAS components
Figure 2
Figure 2
Example Robotic Surgery Room Configuration.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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