title: Assessment of joystick and wrist control in hand-held articulated laparoscopic prototypes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Various steerable instruments with flexible distal tip have been developed for laparoscopic surgery. The problem of steering such instruments, however, remains a challenge, because no study investigated which control method is the most suitable. This study was designed to examine whether thumb (joystick) or wrist control method is designated for prototypes of steerable instruments by means of motion analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Five experts and 12 novices participated. Each participant performed a needle-driving task in three directions (right → left, up → down, and down → up) with two prototypes (wrist and thumb) and a conventional instrument. Novices performed the tasks in three sessions, whereas experts performed one session only. The order of performing the tasks was determined by Latin squares design. Assessment of performance was done by means of five motion analysis parameters, a newly developed matrix for assigning penalty points, and a questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The thumb-controlled prototype outperformed the wrist-controlled prototype. Comparison of the results obtained in each task showed that regarding penalty points, the up → down task was the most difficult to perform.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The thumb control is more suitable for steerable instruments than the wrist control. To avoid uncontrolled movements and difficulties with applying forces to the tissue while keeping the tip of the instrument at the constant angle, adding a "locking" feature is necessary. It is advisable not to perform the needle driving task in the up → down direction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Linde M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Okken
authors.forename: Magdalena K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Chmarra
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hiemstra
authors.forename: Frank Willem
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Jansen
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dankelman
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards*; D004867:Equipment Design; D058733:Hand-Assisted Laparoscopy / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D020706:Laparoscopes; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014953:Wrist / Q000502:physiology*