Tactile Feedback for Artery Detection in Minimally Invasive Robotic Surgery - Preliminary Results of a New Approach

Minimally invasive robotic surgery (MIRS) entails total absence of haptic feedback due to the spatial separation of patient and surgeon. In conventional surgery, however, palpation to detect superficial arteries by a slight pulsation is an important, commonly applied, and security-relevant procedure. Therefore, an ultrasound based unidirectional sensor for MIRS was developed feeding back kinesthetic impulses to the surgeon-sided haptic input device.