Vibrotactile force feedback system for minimally invasive surgical procedures

Lack of adequate force feedback for the surgeon in minimally invasive surgery (MIS) can lead to unnecessary trauma to tissue and adverse events during surgery. The successful use of vibrotactile stimulation to augment overloaded or deficient sensory modes in the human operator in other application areas warrants an investigation into its application in MIS. A vibrotactile force feedback system was designed, and its ability to provide useful force information to subjects performing a simulated MIS task was evaluated. Results showed that the system responds as predicted against the bottom surface of the foot, and that subjects were able to perceive a linear increase in force as linear increase in vibration intensity. Furthermore, vibrotacile force information increased one's sensitivity to tissue contact (1.3 N maximum force -no vibration, 1.0 N maximum force-fine step vibration feedback; p<0.001) and improved one's ability to consistently and accurately differentiate tissue softness in a simulated MIS task. Vibrotactile force feedback in MIS appears to have benefits which can lead to a decrease in trauma to tissue and adverse events.