A robotic system for telementoring and training in laparoscopic surgery

A laparoscopic surgical training system, the LapaRobot, is introduced. The system is composed of an expert station and a trainee station connected through the Internet. Embedded actuators allow the trainee station to be driven by an expert surgeon so that a trainee learns proper technique through physical feedback. The surgical-tool trajectory and video feed can be recorded and later "played back" to a trainee to hone operative skills through guided repetition without the need for expert supervision. The system is designed to create a high-fidelity approximation of the intracorporeal workspace, incorporate commercially available surgical instruments, and provide a wealth of high-resolution data for quantitative analysis and feedback. Experimental evaluation demonstrated a 55% improvement in surgical performance with use of our system. In this paper, we introduce the details of the design and fabrication of the LapaRobot, illustrate the mechatronics and software-control schemes, and evaluate the system in a study.