Performance of Robotic Augmentation in Microsurgery-Scale Motions

This paper is part of the development process of a microsurgical “cooperating” assistant. To evaluate its applicability to augment fine surgical motions, we test precision and operator perception in simple microsurgical scale pick and place motions. Such motions are common in microsurgical procedures (e.g. micro-vascular anastomosis). The experiments test the users’ ability to position a common surgical tool to 250, 200 and 150 micrometer accuracy. These experiments were performed using two test platforms. The new “steady hand” robot designed for microsurgery and the LARS robot (a laparoscopic camera holding robot) adapted for this purpose. Comparative results for several parameters including time, success rate, error rate, number of attempts are included. Comparison of performance of the two robots for these tasks is also included. The results support our claim that the new “steady hand” robot augments human performance for microsurgery-scale motion.