Summary: UCLA researchers in the Departments of Urology and Electrical and Computer Engineering have developed a smart haptic feedback invention to restore the sense of touch in robot-assisted surgical procedures.
Background: Robot-assisted surgeries have seen significant growth in adoption, with approximately 99,000 procedures performed annually—a number that has steadily increased over the past decade. These advancements allow surgeons to enhance their capabilities beyond physical limitations by augmenting the human hand, providing minimally-invasive access with increase range of motion and flexible gesture scaling. In addition, leveraging high-definition endoscopes with fluorescence imaging capabilities and software algorithms that provide pre-operative imaging data have optimized surgeon performance. While these technologies greatly expand the surgeon’s toolkit, they also come with a significant drawback: the loss of tactile feedback. This lack of real-time touch sensing feedback has been shown to diminish surgeon performance, particularly in accurately identifying and characterizing tumors or other critical physiological features. Restoring and extending the sense of touch beyond the capabilities of human mechanoreceptors is therefore essential. Such a system would be invaluable for identifying structures typically located through palpation in conventional open surgeries, such as soft tissue tumors.
Innovation: To address these critical issues, UCLA researchers have developed a smart haptic feedback system that enhances surgical precision. By leveraging the inherent difference in stiffness between tumors and healthy tissues, as tumors are significantly stiffer than healthy tissue, the system integrates three crucial components together for a seamless operating experience. First, this system integrates a force sensor into surgical instruments to delineate the various contact forces applied to tissues. Second, instruments are equipped with a rotary encoder to monitor tissue displacement through a change in angle after initial tissue contact. Finally, feedback is sent to the operator by a real-time analysis of both the force sensing and tissue displacement measurements. This facilitates quantification of tissue mechanical properties the tissue structure is then identified by comparing the results with known values for tissues of interest. Once a potential tumor has been detected, feedback is provided to the surgeon near instantaneously through tactile, visual, or auditory cures. By providing real-time haptic feedback, this invention has the potential to revolutionize the way surgeons identify tumors, leading to better outcomes and more personalized patient care.
Potential Applications: • Integration with robotic surgery platforms • Various robot-assisted surgeries (general, cancer, orthopaedic, neurosurgery) • Advanced medical training systems • Physical therapy assessment of muscle and joint conditions • Haptic feedback in prosthetic limbs • Haptic feedback in VR/AR systems
Advantages: • Enhanced tumor localization • Improved surgical precision • Reduced surgeon fatigue • Extension of minimally invasive surgery • Adaptability to various tissues and procedures
Development-To-Date: Two patents have been filed for this invention, one for the haptic feedback sensor and method of making and another for the feedback modalities.
Related Papers: 1. Abiri A, Juo Y-Y, Tao A, et al. Artificial Palpation in Robotic Surgery using Haptic Feedback. Surg Endosc. DOI: 10.1007/s00464-018-6405-8 2. Abiri A, Tao A, LaRocca M, et al. Visual–perceptual mismatch in robotic surgery. Surg Endosc. doi: 10.1007/s00464-016-5358-z 2017;31(8):3271-3278. doi:10.1007/s00464-016-5358-z 3. Abiri A, Pensa J, Tao A, et al. Multi-Modal Haptic Feedback for Grip Force Reduction in Robotic Surgery. 2019:1-10. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-40821-1 4. Wottawa CR. An Investigation into the Benefits of Tactile Feedback for Laparoscopic, Robotic, and Remote Surgery. 2013. https://escholarship.org/content/qt7w74q3wh/qt7w74q3wh_noSplash_57f5b427ae131210a1297179d3b74b42.pdf 5. Wottawa CR, Genovese B, Nowroozi BN, et al. Evaluating tactile feedback in robotic surgery for potential clinical application using an animal model. Surg Endosc. 2016;30(8):3198-3209. doi:10.1007/s00464-015-4602-2
Reference: UCLA Case No. 2020-822