Intelligent Scalpels Through Touch Technology

DullTrev writes: "The BBC News site is running a story about touch technology. Basically, haptics is the science of incorporating a sense of touch into technology. Scientists at the University of Tokyo have developed a sensor which can feel. So you could have a surgeon operating with a scalpel incorporating this technology, the scalpel could push back against the surgeon when he tries to slice and dice an artery. I'm sure there could be loads of applications for this technology - most uselessly the test these scientists have been doing - stopping cutting a hardboiled egg when you get to the yolk..."

Comments

Re:Telemedicine

[Ami Ganguli]

It's not just for telemedicine. The idea is to give enhanced feedback, superior to what you would get with just touch. This would allow a surgeon cut exactly what's intended, even if visual or tactile feedback isn't enough to distinguish between different types of tissue.

What does the FDA have to say about this?

[reachinmark]

The biggest hurdle for haptics in surgery in the past has been getting FDA approval. Most US companies researching in this field typically go to the EU for their trials where people aren't so concerned about the idea of a robot interfering with surgery. I agree with the FDA -- i'd rather trust a trained doctor to not cut my artery than a software program written by a fellow compsci grad!

Our company works with haptics in surgical *training*, and I must say that this is both more effective and involves fewer regulation issues. Using haptics to simulate a surgical procedure means that surgeons can train to be better - and then they don't need a computer to stop them from killing me. Heck, it even saves pigs.

For more info

[SaturnTim]

Millersville University has been working on related technologies.

http://cs.millersv.edu

(too lazy to html in the morning).

--T

Re:I sure hope they get VERY good programmers.

[stapedium]

Most forms intraoperative monitoring I am farmiliar with (evoked potentials and blood flow measurements) use auditory cues to let the surgeon know when he is being too rough with the tissue. Auditory cues would seem to be the best mode of feedback for surgeons since their vision, touch and smell (think bowel surgery or electrocautery) are likely to be fully occupied.

That is unless you can rig something up to let the surgeon taste the tissue under his scalpel.

Lets all say it together now...EWwwwwww

Demoed at SIGGRAPH 2001

[Dynedain]

I swear this came up already in the discussions about SIGGRAPH 2001. The Researchers who came up with this were showing it off. In response to the earlyy post about electrical currents and such, it doesn't have to be an electrical current feedback, it can use any kind of feedback, optical, density, etc. Basically what this device does is it senses the boundary line between two different substances (i.e. water and oil, white of an egg and its yolk...) and gives them a very strong tactile feedback to keep them from pushing through - however one can override the device and still push through.

I got to try it at SIGGRAPH. As an example they had a small clear tank filled with water and something heavier beneath (dunno what it was...obviously nontoxic though). They handed you a pen to stick into the mixture and try as you like there was no way you could determine where one liquid stopped and the next began simply by touch (the liquids were different colors). Next they let you try with the haptic device. A clear plastic or glass wand the same size as the pen which was connected to a robotic arm. Every time the wand touched the surface of the lower liquid, the robotic arm would kick in and keep you from penetrating it with a fairly strong force that would take some serious concious effort to overcome. Basically the device let you literally feel the line of difference between the liquids, which you would otherwise never be able to dectect by touch. In fact, just to prove how well it worked, they would from time to time bump or stir the tank so that there would be visible ripples in the intersection of the two liquids. The haptic device still worked great at letting you feel the bumps and valleys created. The video/slideshow on the wall behind the display showed the hard boiled egg example among other things. The person wielding the scalpel was able in a single quick cut (less than 20 seconds) cut the white off the yolk without cutting the yolk at all. This could allow doctors to cut through a layer of skin or tissue without cutting what was underneath. It doesn't have to be recalibrated for each and every set of materials used, just the one that it is pentrating. It detects differences in properties (such as conductivity) and won't let you penetrate anything but what you set it to allow you to pentrate.