Tactile Feedback in Robot-Assisted Minimally Invasive Surgery: A Systematic Review.

Background: Robot-assisted systems have predominantly relied on teleoperation, where visual feedback is the primary source of information. However, advances in tactile sensing and displays offer new opportunities to enhance surgical transparency, efficiency, and safety.

Methods: A PRISMA-guided search was conducted across PubMed, IEEE Xplore, Scopus, and Web of Science databases to identify relevant studies.

Results: Out of 645 screened articles, 98 met the inclusion criteria, and 33 were included in the final review. The review discusses various tactile feedback stimulus types, applications, and challenges in the context of robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery.

Conclusion: While kinaesthetic feedback has been extensively explored to restore the natural interaction between the surgeon and the surgical environment, tactile feedback remains largely confined to research settings. This is due to significant challenges in integrating tactile feedback into robotic systems and current limitations of sensing technologies.