Development and Validation of a 3DOF Force Sensing Tool for In-Situ Surgical Robotics

PurposeAlthough robotic surgery has proved its advantages over traditional surgery methods, the lack of force sensing in the robotic systems poses a challenge to further advancements in the field. Many studies introducing force estimation to robotic surgery are tested on benchtop models. This is not an accurate representation of the robotic surgery environment. In this paper, the focus is on the development and validation of a surgical robotic tool capable of 3 degrees of freedom (DOF) force sensing while being employed in-situ in its native environment.MethodsThe da Vinci surgical system was paired with the da Vinci research kit (dVRK) to create a surgical robotic research platform. A da Vinci classic mega needle driver tool was instrumented with fiber braggs gratings (FBGS) strain sensors to estimate force measurements. The installation and cable management of the optical fibers allowed for native tool use. The tool was calibrated using a surrogate tissue rigidly attached to a 6 DOF industrial grade load cell. Validation was performed on three different models: (1) surrogate tissue, (2) bovine tongue, and (3) porcine uterine horn.ResultsThe sensor instrumented tool estimated forces with a root mean error of under 1 N on all 3 models while performing complex teleoperation tasks.ConclusionThe design described demonstrated the ability to accurately measure force on tissue surrogates in an in-vitro setting. By providing a robotic-MIS surgical tool capable of force sensing and that allows native use of the surgical robotic system, further research into clinical applications of force measurements can be achieved.