Human-machine interface for robotic surgery and stereotaxy

While considerable technology has been integrated into the operating room, until recently, the actual performance of surgery has seen relatively few changes, relying mainly on hand-eye coordination. This paper outlines the development and composition as well as the requirements and reasoning that lead to the human-machine interface on neuroArm, a telerobotic surgical system. A critical component of the system was the workstation, where information was provided to and received from the operator. The surgeon controls the robotic system using two force-feedback handcontrollers based on visual information from a stereoscopic viewing device and two liquid crystal displays. Two touch screens allow the user to monitor and control the settings of the robot and to view and manipulate 3-D MR images. Audio feedback from the surgical site and the operating room staff is also provided by a wireless communication system. The workstation components were chosen not only to recreate the sight, sound, and touch of surgery but also to facilitate the integration of surgeons with advanced imaging and robotic technologies.