Implementation of a Bilateral Teleoperation Haptic Feedback Controls to Robotic Minimally Invasive Surgery

Although technological advancements in robotic minimally invasive surgery (RMIS) have refined maneuverability and the risk of conducting surgical procedures, RMIS nonetheless necessitates that the surgeon is disassociated with the laparoscopic tool. By this very nature, RMIS elicits the approximation of pressure applied to the patient. Current robotic systems have a unilateral control structure, which lacks force feedback. The implementation of a force feedback system to monitor physical interactions between the robot and the patient provides the surgeon with an accurate force sensation. For this paper, the research aims to develop a Direct Force Reflection bilateral teleoperation system for a laparoscopic grasper. A force sensor was placed on the grasper to measure the amount of force needed for the controller. Likewise, an encoder was used to determine the angle of the grasper. Factors such as temperature and system response time were observed in the study to verify the performance of the bilateral teleoperation system.