Overview on Force Sensing Techniques in Robot-assisted Minimally Invasive Laparoscopic Surgery

Abstract

Detection of interaction force between soft tissue and surgical instrument and perception of biomechanical property of tissue are imperative for reducing operation time and the risk of surgeon mistake. However, in Robot-assisted minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery (MILS), the surgeon’s ability of perceiving valuable haptic information by manipulating the surgical robot system is severely impaired. In order to improve this ability of surgical robot, many university laboratories and research institutions have been committing to designing force sensor and developing force sensing techniques. According to a literature search work, which was performed within the publications of about twenty laboratories and research institutions working on surgical robot developing, this article attempts to summarize the force sensing techniques, force sensors and provide technical suggestions for the future development of force sensing for Robot-assisted MILS.