An Experimental Modular Instrument With a Haptic Feedback Framework for Robotic Surgery Training

2026-04-29

AI Summary

This work addresses the lack of haptic feedback in current robot-assisted surgical systems, which often leads to excessive instrument–tissue interaction forces, while commercially available force-feedback solutions remain prohibitively expensive and difficult to deploy widely. To overcome this limitation, the authors propose a modular laparoscopic surgical instrument that innovatively integrates a six-axis force/torque sensor at the wrist. Coupled with an external contact force estimation algorithm, the system enables real-time inference of instrument–tissue interaction forces, which are then stably mapped to a high-fidelity haptic device through realistic tactile rendering. The complete system has been integrated into the RoboScope training platform. User studies demonstrate that, compared to visual feedback alone, the proposed approach significantly improves task success rate, force control accuracy, and overall procedural efficiency.

Abstract

Robotic-assisted surgery offers significant clinical advantages but largely eliminates direct haptic feedback, increasing the risk of excessive tool-tissue interaction forces. Although recent commercial systems have begun to introduce force feedback, their high cost limits accessibility, particularly for surgical training. This paper presents a modular experimental robotic laparoscopic instrument integrated with a real-time haptic feedback framework. The proposed instrument employs a wrist-mounted force/torque (F/T) sensor to estimate tool-tissue interaction forces while avoiding the durability and integration challenges of tip-mounted sensors. A haptic feedback framework is developed to extract the external contact forces, render them to the haptic device, and generate stable and perceptually meaningful feedback. The instrument is integrated into the robotic surgery training system (RoboScope) and evaluated through a controlled user study involving a force regulation task. Experimental results demonstrate that haptic feedback significantly improves task success rate, force regulation accuracy, and task efficiency compared to visual-only feedback. The proposed instrument enables stable, high-fidelity haptic interaction, supporting effective robotic surgery training.

Problem

• robotic surgery
• haptic feedback
• surgical training
• force regulation
• tool-tissue interaction

Innovation

• haptic feedback
• modular robotic instrument
• force/torque sensor
• robotic surgery training
• tool-tissue interaction