Modeling and evaluation of hand-eye coordination of surgical robotic system on task performance

Abstract

Background: Robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgery changes the direct hand and eye coordination in traditional surgery to indirect instrument and camera coordination, which affects the ergonomics, operation performance, and safety.

Methods: A camera, two instruments, and a target, as the descriptors, are used to construct the workspace correspondence and geometrical relationships in a surgical operation. A parametric model with a set of parameters is proposed to describe the hand-eye coordination of the surgical robot.

Results: From the results, optimal values and acceptable ranges of these parameters are identified from two tasks. A 90° viewing angle had the longest completion time; 60° instrument elevation angle and 0° deflection angle had better performance; there is no significant difference among manipulation angles and observing distances on task performance.

Conclusion: This hand-eye coordination model provides evidence for robotic design, surgeon training, and robotic initialization to achieve dexterous and safe manipulation in surgery.

Keywords: hand-eye coordination; parametric model; robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgery (RMIS); task performance; workspace correspondence.