Teleoperation in surgical robotics--network latency effects on surgical performance

Area of Science:

• Robotics
• Surgical Technology
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Teleoperated surgical systems facilitate remote surgical procedures, with performance influenced by communication network characteristics.
• The Raven surgical robotic system, an open-architecture portable platform, is designed for both open and minimally invasive surgeries.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the Raven surgical robotic system's performance and surgeon capabilities under various conditions, including extreme environments and time delays.
• To investigate the impact of network time delays on surgical task performance using a standardized laparoscopic surgery training task.

Main Methods:

• Experiments were conducted in extreme environments (desert, underwater) and laboratory settings with synthetic time delays.
• The Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS) block transfer task was used to emulate tissue manipulation.
• Network performance was characterized, with field experiments showing time delays ranging from 16-172 ms.

Main Results:

• Laboratory experiments demonstrated that increased time delay (0-0.5 seconds) significantly prolonged task completion time and increased tool tip trajectory length.
• At time delays of 0.25s and 0.5s, task completion time increased by factors of 1.45 and 2.04, respectively.
• Tool tip trajectory length increased by factors of 1.28 and 1.53 at 0.25s and 0.5s delays, respectively, compared to no delay.

Conclusions:

• Time delay is a critical factor affecting teleoperated surgical robotic system performance, increasing task duration and movement complexity.
• Surgeon experience level did not significantly alter performance metrics (errors, completion time, path length) in the presence of time delays.
• The findings highlight the need for robust communication systems and potential latency mitigation strategies in remote robotic surgery.