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Investigating Haptic Feedback in Vision-Deficient Millirobot Telemanipulation.
Naveed D Riaziat1, Onder Erin2, Axel Krieger1
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
|July 1, 2024
Summary
Haptic feedback significantly improved magnetically actuated millirobot control in a simulated medical procedure. Users achieved better task completion and reduced forces, even after feedback was removed, highlighting its potential for vision-deficient tasks.
Area of Science:
- Robotics
- Medical Devices
- Human-Computer Interaction
Background:
- Magnetically actuated millirobots present unique teleoperation challenges due to complex kinematics and suboptimal imaging.
- Existing haptic feedback research lacks clinically relevant scenarios for millirobot development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effectiveness of haptic feedback in bilateral teleoperation of magnetically actuated millirobots under visually deficient conditions.
- To assess the impact of haptic feedback on task performance and force application in a simulated aneurysm coiling procedure.
Main Methods:
- A user study with 23 participants was conducted using a magnetically actuated millirobot.
- Participants navigated a maze in low-light conditions to manipulate beads to a target under simulated fluoroscopy.
- Haptic feedback conditions were compared against no-feedback conditions.
Main Results:
- Haptic feedback improved bead scoring by over 40% and reduced mean and maximum forces by approximately 10% and 13%, respectively.
- Significant improvements were observed in other performance metrics with haptic feedback.
- The benefits of haptic feedback persisted even when it was subsequently removed.
Conclusions:
- Haptic feedback can substantially enhance millirobot teleoperation and control, particularly in tasks with limited visual information.
- The retained benefits suggest a potential for improved surgical precision and safety in minimally invasive procedures.
- This research provides a clinically motivated foundation for future development of haptic interfaces for millirobots.
