title: An experimental study about haptic feedback in robotic surgery: may visual feedback substitute tactile feedback?
abstract: The aim of this study is to demonstrate the hypothesis that the experience of the surgeon is sufficient to partially compensate for the lack of haptic feedback of the robotic system da Vinci Si HD (Intuitive (®) ). Twenty-five international surgeons belonging to different areas of surgical specialization were divided into two groups of investigation: experts and non-experts in the use of da Vinci Platform. This allocation was made on the basis of the following criteria: the number of performed procedures, the number of robotic working days and the number of true console hours. All participants underwent a specific test to assess their ability to recognize the thickness of custom-made membranes, without the availability of haptic feedback. After the performance of the surgeons, score was given according to an appropriate evaluation system (time, preciseness, force of tension and finding a metallic object). The analysis of the performances of participants provided the following results: an average score of 8.87 for the experts compared to 3.57 of non-experts with significant difference (P < 0.05). Other parameters of interest as the average time to conduct the test showed a result of 28.8 s for experts and 71.3 s of non-experts. After our results, a significant difference between the two groups in terms of performance was found. Our hypothesis that the expertise ability of the experts might partially overcome the lack of haptic feedback was confirmed. Probably visual feedback may play a role.
authors.affiliation: Department of Head-Neck Surgery, Otolaryngology and Head-Neck Surgery Division, Oral Surgery Unit, G. B. Morgagni-L. Pierantoni Hospital, Forli, Italy. giuseppemec@yahoo.it.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7753-4615
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Meccariello
authors.affiliation: Department of Head-Neck Surgery, Otolaryngology and Head-Neck Surgery Division, Oral Surgery Unit, G. B. Morgagni-L. Pierantoni Hospital, Forli, Italy.|UOC of Clinical Engineering, G. B. Morgagni-L. Pierantoni Hospital, Forlì, Italy.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Faedi
authors.affiliation: Department of Head-Neck Surgery, Otolaryngology and Head-Neck Surgery Division, Oral Surgery Unit, G. B. Morgagni-L. Pierantoni Hospital, Forli, Italy.|Department of Otolaryngology and Head-Neck Surgery Division, King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Saleh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: AlGhamdi
authors.affiliation: Department of Head-Neck Surgery, Otolaryngology and Head-Neck Surgery Division, Oral Surgery Unit, G. B. Morgagni-L. Pierantoni Hospital, Forli, Italy.
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Montevecchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Head-Neck Surgery, Otolaryngology and Head-Neck Surgery Division, Oral Surgery Unit, G. B. Morgagni-L. Pierantoni Hospital, Forli, Italy.|Department of Otolaryngology and Head-Neck Surgery, Sant'Orsola Malpighi Hospital, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Firinu
authors.affiliation: Department of Head-Neck Surgery, Otolaryngology and Head-Neck Surgery Division, Oral Surgery Unit, G. B. Morgagni-L. Pierantoni Hospital, Forli, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zanotti
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, General Surgery and Advanced Oncological Therapies Division, G. B. Morgagni-L. Pierantoni Hospital, Forlì, Italy.
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cavaliere
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Urology Unit, G. B. Morgagni-L. Pierantoni Hospital, Forlì, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gunelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Disease, Thoracic Surgery Unit, G. B. Morgagni-L. Pierantoni Hospital, Forlì, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Taurchini
authors.affiliation: Department of Maternity and Childhood, Obstetrics and Gynecology Unit, G. B. Morgagni-L. Pierantoni Hospital, Forlì, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amadori
authors.affiliation: Department of Head-Neck Surgery, Otolaryngology and Head-Neck Surgery Division, Oral Surgery Unit, G. B. Morgagni-L. Pierantoni Hospital, Forli, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vicini
mesh_terms: D004867:Equipment Design; D056228:Feedback, Sensory / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D065287:Robotic Surgical Procedures / Q000193:education* / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D066231:Surgeons / Q000193:education* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology
keywords: Da Vinci; Force feedback; Haptic feedback; Robotic surgery