First clinical application of a surgical robot with haptic force feedback function for thoracic surgery: a case report

Background: Robot-assisted surgery is becoming increasingly common, promising precise and minimally invasive procedures. The absence of tactile senses, however, is a significant disadvantage and may result in complications, including organ damage. A pneumatically driven robot called Saroa™ (Riverfield Inc., Tokyo, Japan) provides the surgeon with haptic force feedback in real-time. In basic experiments, when the haptic force feedback function was on, the forceps used less force than current surgical robots and grabbed much smaller objects. The first human case utilizing Saroa™'s haptic force feedback function for thoracic surgery is presented in this study.