A haptic guidance system for Computer-Assisted Surgical Training using virtual fixtures

A simple and robust fuzzy logic controller with a forbidden region virtual fixture is proposed for a haptic guidance system developed to assist in simulation-based training of laparoscopic surgery. A surgical training system that involves human in the control loop is discussed. It uses a controller which adjusts control outputs for different trainees based on their skill level. The system involves virtual fixtures to improve human manipulation tasks inherent in this problem domain. The proposed controller cooperates with a heuristic-based scaling factor modifier to make such adjustments. The experimental results illustrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed haptic guidance system.