Remote palpation technology

One of a surgeon's most important tools is a highly developed sense of touch. Surgeons rely on sensations from the finger tips to guide manipulation and to perceive a wide variety of anatomical structures and pathologies. Unfortunately, new surgical techniques separate the surgeon's hands from the surgical site. These techniques include minimally invasive procedures such as laparoscopy and thoracoscopy, and new techniques involving robotic manipulators. In these situations the surgeon's perception is limited to visual feedback from a video camera, or gross motion and force feedback through the handles of long instruments. The authors are working to develop new technology to rectify this sensory deficit by relaying tactile information from the surgical site to the surgeon. They have developed a variety of tactile sensors that can be mounted in a probe or surgical instrument. The tactile information provided by these sensors may then be conveyed through the tactile display devices the authors have developed to recreate the tactile stimulus directly on the surgeon's finger tip. By using these remote palpation devices, the surgeon may regain some of the perceptual and manipulative skills present in conventional open-incision surgery. Among the tactile feedback parameters the authors are investigating are force reflection, vibration, and small-scale shape.>