Recent Advances in Robot-Assisted Surgery: Soft Tissue Contact Identification

Robot-Assisted Minimally Invasive Surgery (RAMIS) is becoming standard-of-care in western medicine. RAMIS offers better patient outcome compared to traditional open surgery, however, the surgeons' ability to identify the tissues with the sense of touch is missing from most robotic systems. Regarding haptic feedback, the most promising diagnostic technique is probably palpation; a physical contact examination method through which information can be gathered about the underlying structures by gently pressing with the fingers. In open surgery, palpation is widely used to identify blood vessels, tendons or even tumors; and the knowledge on the exact location of such elements is often crucial with respect to the outcome of the intervention. This paper presents a review of the actual research directions in the field of palpation in RAMIS.