Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 3800, Australia.
The Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia.
Sci Rep. 2024 Apr 23;14(1):9264. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-59338-3.
The implementation of a laparoscope-holding robot in minimally invasive surgery enhances the efficiency and safety of the operation. However, the extra robot control task can increase the cognitive load on surgeons. A suitable interface may simplify the control task and reduce the surgeon load. Foot interfaces are commonly used for commanding laparoscope-holding robots, with two control strategies available: decoupled control permits only one Cartesian axis actuation, known as decoupled commands; hybrid control allows for both decoupled commands and multiple axes actuation, known as coupled commands. This paper aims to determine the optimal control strategy for foot interfaces by investigating two common assumptions in the literature: (1) Decoupled control is believed to result in better predictability of the final laparoscopic view orientation, and (2) Hybrid control has the efficiency advantage in laparoscope control. Our user study with 11 experienced and trainee surgeons shows that decoupled control has better predictability than hybrid control, while both approaches are equally efficient. In addition, using two surgery-like tasks in a simulator, users' choice of decoupled and coupled commands is analysed based on their level of surgical experience and the nature of the movement. Results show that trainee surgeons tend to issue more commands than the more experienced participants. Single decoupled commands were frequently used in small view adjustments, while a mixture of coupled and decoupled commands was preferred in larger view adjustments. A guideline for foot interface control strategy selection is provided.
腹腔镜机器人在微创手术中的应用提高了手术的效率和安全性。然而，额外的机器人控制任务会增加外科医生的认知负荷。一个合适的接口可以简化控制任务并降低外科医生的负荷。脚控接口常用于控制腹腔镜机器人，有两种控制策略：解耦控制仅允许一个笛卡尔轴运动，称为解耦命令；混合控制允许进行解耦命令和多个轴运动，称为耦合命令。本文旨在通过研究文献中的两个常见假设，确定脚控接口的最佳控制策略：（1）解耦控制被认为可以更好地预测最终腹腔镜的视角方向；（2）混合控制在腹腔镜控制方面具有效率优势。我们的用户研究包括 11 名经验丰富的外科医生和实习医生，结果表明，解耦控制比混合控制具有更好的可预测性，而这两种方法的效率相当。此外，在模拟器中使用两个类似手术的任务，根据手术经验水平和运动性质分析了用户对解耦和耦合命令的选择。结果表明，实习医生比经验丰富的参与者更倾向于发出更多的命令。在小视角调整中，经常使用单一的解耦命令，而在较大的视角调整中，更倾向于使用耦合和解耦命令的混合。提供了脚控接口控制策略选择的指南。
