What Humans Act in Robotic Surgery

This work discusses about variables affecting robotic assisted laparoscopic surgery using De Vinci system. A systematic review found key factors which may cause clinical errors. Key variables are identified and causal relationships, by stringing several loops, have been recognized. Decomposition into a hierarchy of sub structures (i.e., Analytic Hierarchical Process) is performed in order to rank the role of “variables” affecting human reliability in the robotic assisted surgery. System is studied according to steady state parameters, dynamics dependences. The subjective evaluations were collected from field-managers and nurse and doctors- by the means of questionnaires and interviews. ANOVA analysis is implemented and a risk categorization is then proposed. It is resulted that breaks and rota schedule interact with physical stress. Those in turn alter (by increasing) the probability of error. Knowledge about procedures and learning about process increase fatigue limit over demand requirements. Reliability is consistently affected by the surgical experience. Collaboration in team is required whenever human reliability is at critical level. Complex tasks require smart team.