Haptics in Robot-Assisted Surgery: Challenges and Benefits

Area of Science:

• Medical Robotics
• Surgical Technology
• Human-Machine Interaction

Background:

• Robotic surgery offers advanced capabilities but faces challenges in widespread adoption.
• Limited haptic feedback is a significant barrier to the broader implementation of surgical robots.
• Surgical robots act as collaborative tools, transferring and refining surgeon's actions for patient interaction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To discuss the objectives and challenges of implementing haptic technologies in surgical robotics.
• To systematically review existing literature on the impact of haptic information in robotic surgery.
• To provide a comprehensive overview for both new and experienced researchers in the field.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature review of studies on haptic feedback in robotic surgery.
• Analysis of classical and state-of-the-art approaches in surgical robotics.
• Identification of challenges and objectives related to haptic technology deployment.

Main Results:

• Haptic feedback is crucial for overcoming limitations in current surgical robot systems.
• The review covers diverse applications of haptic information across major robotic surgery branches.
• Both foundational and recent advancements in haptic surgical robotics are analyzed.

Conclusions:

• Integrating effective haptic feedback is essential for the advancement and acceptance of surgical robotics.
• Addressing haptic limitations can significantly broaden the capabilities and application of robot-assisted surgery.
• This survey provides a balanced perspective on the current state and future directions of haptic surgical robotics.