Development and evaluation of an autonomous camera control algorithm on the da Vinci Surgical System.

Background: Manual control of the camera arm in telerobotic surgical systems requires the surgeon to repeatedly interrupt the flow of the surgery. During surgery, there are instances when one or even both tools can drift out of the field of view. These issues may lead to increased workload and potential errors.

Automated robot-assisted surgical skill evaluation: Predictive analytics approach.

Background: Surgical skill assessment has predominantly been a subjective task. Recently, technological advances such as robot-assisted surgery have created great opportunities for objective surgical evaluation. In this paper, we introduce a predictive framework for objective skill assessment based on movement trajectory data.

Distance-based time series classification approach for task recognition with application in surgical robot autonomy.

Background: Robotic-assisted surgery allows surgeons to perform many types of complex operations with greater precision than is possible with conventional surgery. Despite these advantages, in current systems, a surgeon should communicate with the device directly and manually. To allow the robot to adjust parameters such as camera position, the system needs to know automatically what task the surgeon is performing.

Towards the Implementation of an Autonomous Camera Algorithm on the da Vinci Platform.

Camera positioning is critical for all telerobotic surgical systems. Inadequate visualization of the remote site can lead to serious errors that can jeopardize the patient. An autonomous camera algorithm has been developed on a medical robot (da Vinci) simulator.

Task analysis of laparoscopic camera control schemes.

Background: Minimally invasive surgeries rely on laparoscopic camera views to guide the procedure. Traditionally, an expert surgical assistant operates the camera. In some cases, a robotic system is used to help position the camera, but the surgeon is required to direct all movements of the system.

Voice-Activated Lightweight Reacher to Assist with Upper Extremity Movement Limitations: A Case Study.

The focus of this research was to design a functional and user-friendly reacher for people with spinal cord injuries (SCIs). Engineering advancements have taken assistive robotics to new dimensions. Technologies such as wheelchair robotics and myo-electronically controlled systems have opened up a wide range of new applications to assist people with physical disabilities.

Towards an autonomous robot for camera control during laparoscopic surgery.

Introduction: During laparoscopic surgery, the surgeon currently must instruct a human camera operator or a robotic arm to move the camera. This process is distracting, and the camera is not always placed in an ideal location. To mitigate these problems, we have developed a test platform that tracks laparoscopic instruments and automatically moves a camera with no explicit human direction.

Human performance in the task of port placement for biosensor use.

Background: We conducted a study of participants' abilities to place a laparoscopic port for in vivo biosensor use. Biosensors have physical limitations that make port placement crucial to proper data collection. A new port placement algorithm enabled evaluation of port locations, using segmented patient data in a virtual environment.

Optimized port placement for in vivo biosensors.

Background: We discuss the implementation of an automated port placement system for use with laparoscopic in vivo biosensors. Biosensors have physical limitations that make port placement crucial to proper data collection. The port placement process is prohibitively complex to execute optimally by human estimation.

An integrated movement capture and control platform applied towards autonomous movements of surgical robots.

Robotic surgery has gradually gained acceptance due to its numerous advantages such as tremor filtration, increased dexterity and motion scaling. There remains, however, a significant scope for improvement, especially in the areas of surgeon-robot interface and autonomous procedures. Previous studies have attempted to identify factors affecting a surgeon's performance in a master-slave robotic system by tracking hand movements.

NASA TLX: software for assessing subjective mental workload.

The NASA Task Load Index (TLX) is a popular technique for measuring subjective mental workload. It relies on a multidimensional construct to derive an overall workload score based on a weighted average of ratings on six subscales: mental demand, physical demand, temporal demand, performance, effort, and frustration level. A program for implementing a computerized version of the NASA TLX is described.

Performance of basic manipulation and intracorporeal suturing tasks in a robotic surgical system: single- versus dual-monitor views.

Background: Technical advances in the application of laparoscopic and robotic surgical systems have improved platform usability. The authors hypothesized that using two monitors instead of one would lead to faster performance with fewer errors.

Methods: All tasks were performed using a surgical robot in a training box.

Evaluation of pancreatic cancer with Raman spectroscopy in a mouse model.

Objectives: Detection of neoplastic changes using optical spectroscopy has been an active area of research in recent times. Raman spectroscopy is a vibrational spectroscopic technique that can be used to diagnose various tumors with high sensitivity and specificity. We evaluated the ability of Raman spectroscopy to differentiate normal pancreatic tissue from malignant tumors in a mouse model.

Raman spectroscopy can differentiate malignant tumors from normal breast tissue and detect early neoplastic changes in a mouse model.

Raman spectroscopy shows potential in differentiating tumors from normal tissue. We used Raman spectroscopy with near-infrared light excitation to study normal breast tissue and tumors from 11 mice injected with a cancer cell line. Spectra were collected from 17 tumors, 18 samples of adjacent breast tissue and lymph nodes, and 17 tissue samples from the contralateral breast and its adjacent lymph nodes.

Comparison of a supplemental wide field of view versus a single field of view with zoom on performance in minimally invasive surgery.

Background: The limited space and high magnification involved in minimally invasive surgery (MIS) can cause surgeons to lose sight of an instrument while performing tasks such as suturing and knot-tying. A current strategy employed to locate the instrument is zooming out and in with the endoscope, which can be a time-intensive and iterative task. This study investigates the use of a supplemental wide field of view (FOV) via a second endoscope for locating an instrument outside the FOV in a MIS setting.

Supplemental wide field-of-view monitor improves performance in surgical telerobotic movement time.

Background: This study investigates the effect of a supplemental wide field-of-view (FOV) monitor on performance at high magnifications where the benefits of robotic surgery have greater importance.

Methods: Ten surgically naïve participants performed a simple aimed movement task under two different monitor conditions. The task is intended to emulate the need to locate an instrument outside the surgeon's FOV and return it to a 'home' position without the need to zoom.