Towards a haptic feedback framework for multi-DOF robotic laparoscopic surgery platforms

The use of robotics for laparoscopic surgery has been an established field for over a decade. However, with the influx of advanced tools and algorithms for general purpose robotics, there is a need to incorporate these advancements into medical robotics technology. The daVinci Research Kit and its software framework provides a step towards these advancements. This paper presents the development of new tools and utilization of previously developed tools used for general purpose robotics, and their tailored use in medical robotics. Additionally, a method for computing haptic forces for tele-operated surgical robots is presented. The technique utilizes elastic, Spherical Proxy Regions (SPR) to readily compute directional interaction forces and manipulate them to create a dynamic behavior at the surgeon/user's manipulator.