Enhancing Robotic Surgery With Haptic Feedback: A Cooperative Control Strategy for Autonomous Laparoscope Control

Abstract

The development of autonomous laparoscope control in robot-assisted surgery has emerged as a significant research area, particularly due to its potential to reduce assistant fatigue and minimize miscommunication between the surgeon and assistant. A notable challenge, however, is the tendency of autonomous control strategies to override the surgeon’s direct command occasionally. To address this issue, we propose a novel haptic feedback-based cooperative control strategy that enhances the surgeon’s command of laparoscopic field of view (FOV) movement in robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery. Specifically, we first established a dynamic model of the laparoscope-holding robot, which serves as a link between the movement of the laparoscopic FOV and the surgical instruments to deliver haptic feedback to the surgeon. Next, a motion observer was developed to transform 30 Hz visual feedback into 1 kHz haptic feedback by integrating visual tracking data with kinematic information, ensuring smoother and more continuous haptic feedback. Finally, we propose two distinct collaboration modes: the plane tracking mode (PTM) ensures instruments remain within the laparoscopic image, and the space tracking mode (STM) synchronizes the laparoscope with instrument movement. The laboratory experiments validated the effectiveness of the proposed method in enhancing the cooperative performance of robot-assisted laparoscope systems while animal experiments demonstrated the feasibility of the PTM design.