Evaluation of 3D Pseudo-Haptic Rendering using Vision for Cell Micromanipulation

This paper presents a new three-dimensional biomicromanipulation system for biological objects such as embryos, cells or oocytes. As the cell is very small, kept in the liquid, and observed through a microscope, the two-dimensional visual feedback makes difficult accurate manipulation in the 3-D world. To improve the manipulation work, we proposed an augmented human-machine interface. A 3-D visual information is provided to the operator through a 3-D reconstruction method using vision-based tracking deformations of the cell embryo. In order to stable injection tasks, the operator needs force feedback and haptic assistance during penetrating the cell envelop, the chorion. The proposed human-machine user's interface allows real-time realistic visual and haptic control strategies for constrained motion in image coordinates. Virtual haptic rendering allows to constrain the path of insertion and removal in the 3-D scene or to avoid cell destruction by controlling adequately position, velocity and force parameters