Haptic Feedback Based Laparoscope Movement Perception Method for Autonomous Surgical Instruments Tracking in Robot-Assisted Minimally Invasive Surgery

The autonomous surgical instrument tracking for robotic surgery can reduce the fatigue of surgeons. However, in the process of autonomous tracking, the laparoscope movement is completely automatic, which results in the loss of the laparoscope control by a surgeon. This paper presents a haptic feedback based laparoscope movement perception method that serves as a controlling function in performing the laparoscope movement. During the tracking, haptic feedback informs a surgeon about the direction of laparoscope movement to enhance surgeons' control over the laparoscopic view. Experiments have shown that the method can effectively control the movement of a laparoscopic robot and provide haptic feedback to a surgeon.