Publications by authors named "Rodney Dockter"
Article Synopsis
- Surgical robots are prone to causing tissue crush injuries during grasping due to the lack of force feedback, prompting the exploration of a blended shared control framework that incorporates real-time object identification to mitigate these risks.
- The study tests this framework on a custom robotic setup, assessing both the effectiveness of a tissue identification algorithm and the control strategy by comparing manual and blended shared control grasps on silicone tissue surrogates.
- Results show a 95% accuracy in tissue identification and a reduction in peak grasping forces with the blended control, suggesting it more effectively regulates forces during surgeries compared to traditional manual methods, and indicating a need for further research in this area.
The design and validation of a continuously stretchable and flexible skin sensor for collaborative robotic applications is outlined. The skin consists of a PDMS skin doped with Carbon Nanotubes and the addition of conductive fabric, connected by only five wires to a simple microcontroller. The accuracy is characterized in position as well as force, and the skin is also tested under uniaxial stretch.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Minimally invasive surgery requires objective methods for skill evaluation and training. This work presents the minimally acceptable classification (MAC) criterion for computational surgery: Given an obvious novice and an obvious expert, a surgical skill evaluation classifier must yield 100% accuracy. We propose that a rigorous motion analysis algorithm must meet this minimal benchmark in order to justify its cost and use.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: A surgeon's skill in the operating room has been shown to correlate with a patient's clinical outcome. The prompt accurate assessment of surgical skill remains a challenge, in part, because expert faculty reviewers are often unavailable. By harnessing the power of large readily available crowds through the Internet, rapid, accurate, and low-cost assessments may be achieved.
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