Electromechanically and Sensor Enhanced Endoscopic Tools

Current techniques for minimally invasive surgery suffer from limitations in four general areas: access, dexterity, information, and action. We need to improve navigation to the site and supply the degrees of freedom for proper performance once there. We also need to report the appropriate metrics to facilitate decision-making for surgeons functioning almost completely without a sense of touch. Empowering surgeons to act as skillfully in MIS as in open surgery also requires providing feedback during procedures, to allow for fine-tuning. The field of ergonomics promises reduction in error percentages and fatigue levels with improvements in the type, resolution, and display of information conveyed to surgeons. Although master-slave robots hold some promise, they are too large and expensive for near-term adoption, and they entail significant disruption in operating room practices. We propose to investigate MIS access, dexterity, information, and action exhaustively and to create a design for affordable enhancements to existing tool tips. We intend first to mimic tactile and haptic sensation and boost dexterity while refining the collection and presentation of usable information. We seek evolution rather than revolution, suggesting incremental improvement to the familiar, which is both self-perpetuating and more marketable than the completely new. (P-040592)