Robots with tactile feedback: Minute-minute minimally invasive surgery

In the common minimally invasive surgery, because the incision is too small, the surgeons are anxious to stare with a magnifying glass, which has some impact on the surgery itself. To solve this problem, Deakin University of Australia and Harvard University jointly created a robot called Hero Surg, which was announced yesterday at Melbourne's Australian Simulation Congress.

Hero Surg is specially created for laparoscopic surgery, so it is particularly suitable for those who need to suture the tiny tissue surgery. Although the appearance of the patient may seem a bit frightening to the patient, the R&D team hopes it will make the surgery safer and more precise. More importantly, it can give surgeons an important feeling: touch.

Yes, Hero Surg differs from the wide variety of minimally invasive surgical tools in the outside world in that it can transmit tactile sensations to surgeons and 3D image processors via tactile feedback mechanisms so that doctors can see their scalpels in the end. Where did you cut it? This is a great news for the majority of patients with appendix. Because they are always worried that doctors mistakenly cut their other organs during the operation.

The big boss of this project is Mohsen Moradi Dalvand, who has spent nearly a decade studying medical robotics and haptic systems. In an interview with Mashable, Dalvand said: "The Hero Surg is a master-slave surgical system; when it is in a subordinate position, it is equipped with multiple robotic arms with various surgical tools and laparoscopes; and when it is When it became dominant, it became a tactile handle for the surgeon."

In addition, with Hero Surg, doctors can feel that they are exerting some force on the patient while using the appliance. "That is to say, when doctors get something through surgical instruments or they cut some body tissue, they can feel their own exertion on this organization... They can also feel the degree of hardness and hardness of the organization and The nature of the organization makes the judgment."

“Tactile feedback allows the surgeon to distinguish between various tissues and to feel whether some vulnerable tissue has been infected or weakened by inflammation and then to analyze it more thoroughly.” Professor Suren Krishnan from Adelaide Royal Hospital at a Said in the statement.

Robotic surgery systems are now gaining momentum and more and more doctors are using them. Dalvand believes that HeroSurg is so compelling because of its tactile feedback capabilities, ability to avoid collisions, and ability to automatically adapt to patients and beds. "The surgeon does not have to worry about whether or not the robot will touch the patient's body or body during the operation," he explained.