scholarly journals An Experimental Comparison of Two User Interface Designs for a Hand-Held Surgical Robot

Author(s):  
Margaret F. Rox ◽  
Richard J. Hendrick ◽  
S. Duke Herrell ◽  
Robert J. Webster

There is a trend towards miniaturization in surgical robotics with the objective of making surgeries less invasive [1]. There has also been increasing recent interest in hand-held robots because of their ability to maintain the current surgical workflow [2, 3]. We have previously presented a system that integrates small-diameter concentric tube robots [4, 5] into a hand-held robotic device [3], as shown in Figure 1. This robot was designed for transurethral laser surgery in the prostate. It provides the surgeon with two dexterous manipulators through a 5mm port in a traditional transurethral endoscope. This system enables the surgeon to retract tissue and aim a fiber optic laser simultaneously to resect prostate tissue. This robot provides the surgeon with a total of ten degrees of freedom (DOF) that must be simultaneously coordinated, including endoscope orientation (3 DOF), endoscope insertion (1 DOF), as well as the tip position of each concentric tube manipulator (3 DOF per manipulator). In [3], a simple user interface was employed that involved thumb joysticks (which also had pushbutton capability) and a unidirectional index finger trigger, as shown in Figure 2 (Left). The thumb joysticks were mapped to manipulator tip motion in the plane of the endoscope image, and the trigger was used for motion perpendicular to the plane. Whether the finger trigger extended or retracted the tip of the concentric tube manipulator was toggled via the pushbutton capability of the thumb joystick. While surgeons could learn this mapping with some effort, and were able to use it to accomplish a cadaver study, the experiments made clear that further work was needed in creating an intuitive user interface — particularly with respect to how motion perpendicular to the image plane is controlled. This paper describes a first step toward improving the user interface; we integrate a bidirectional dial input in place of the unidirectional index finger trigger, so that extension and retraction perpendicular to the image plane can be controlled without the need for a pushbutton toggle. In this paper we describe the design of this dial input and present the results of a user study comparing it to the interface in [3].

2015 ◽  
Vol 78 (2-2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nuraini Hidayah Sulaiman ◽  
Masitah Ghazali

Guidelines for designing and developing a learning prototype that are compatible with the limited capabilities of children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) are established in the form of a model, known as Learning Software User Interface Design Model (LSUIDM), to ensure children with CP are able to grasp the concepts of a learning software application prototype. In this paper, the LSUIDM is applied in developing a learning software application for children with CP. We present a user study on evaluating a children education game for CP children at Pemulihan dalam Komuniti in Johor Bahru. The findings from the user study shows that the game, which was built, based on the LSUIDM can be applied in the learning process for children with CP and most notably, the children are engaged and excited using the software. This paper highlights the lessons learned from the user study, which should be significant especially in improving the application. The results of the study show that the application is proven to be interactive, useful and efficient as the users used it.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (10) ◽  
pp. e0258103
Author(s):  
Andreas Bueckle ◽  
Kilian Buehling ◽  
Patrick C. Shih ◽  
Katy Börner

Working with organs and extracted tissue blocks is an essential task in many medical surgery and anatomy environments. In order to prepare specimens from human donors for further analysis, wet-bench workers must properly dissect human tissue and collect metadata for downstream analysis, including information about the spatial origin of tissue. The Registration User Interface (RUI) was developed to allow stakeholders in the Human Biomolecular Atlas Program (HuBMAP) to register tissue blocks—i.e., to record the size, position, and orientation of human tissue data with regard to reference organs. The RUI has been used by tissue mapping centers across the HuBMAP consortium to register a total of 45 kidney, spleen, and colon tissue blocks, with planned support for 17 organs in the near future. In this paper, we compare three setups for registering one 3D tissue block object to another 3D reference organ (target) object. The first setup is a 2D Desktop implementation featuring a traditional screen, mouse, and keyboard interface. The remaining setups are both virtual reality (VR) versions of the RUI: VR Tabletop, where users sit at a physical desk which is replicated in virtual space; VR Standup, where users stand upright while performing their tasks. All three setups were implemented using the Unity game engine. We then ran a user study for these three setups involving 42 human subjects completing 14 increasingly difficult and then 30 identical tasks in sequence and reporting position accuracy, rotation accuracy, completion time, and satisfaction. All study materials were made available in support of future study replication, alongside videos documenting our setups. We found that while VR Tabletop and VR Standup users are about three times as fast and about a third more accurate in terms of rotation than 2D Desktop users (for the sequence of 30 identical tasks), there are no significant differences between the three setups for position accuracy when normalized by the height of the virtual kidney across setups. When extrapolating from the 2D Desktop setup with a 113-mm-tall kidney, the absolute performance values for the 2D Desktop version (22.6 seconds per task, 5.88 degrees rotation, and 1.32 mm position accuracy after 8.3 tasks in the series of 30 identical tasks) confirm that the 2D Desktop interface is well-suited for allowing users in HuBMAP to register tissue blocks at a speed and accuracy that meets the needs of experts performing tissue dissection. In addition, the 2D Desktop setup is cheaper, easier to learn, and more practical for wet-bench environments than the VR setups.


2014 ◽  
Vol 484-485 ◽  
pp. 1118-1125
Author(s):  
Rao Shun

There are more and more complex tools and machinery that need be operated by human fingers in our modem industrial environment. Such as computer keyboards, screwdriver, handle wrench, button and switch. All of those should be designed to work effectively and safely with the operators for whom they were designed. At first, ergonomic consideration in design is reachable; this means the operators fingertip must be able to reach the operating component. This is generally no question because human arm has much more degrees of freedom required to position his arms, hands and fingers in the three-dimension space. However, some times we need the finger operate with a fixed wrist. For example in the case in the typing, the reachable workspace of the finger must take into account in such situation.Finger contacting is the most familiar operation mode of the man-machine system, and the index finger takes on the primary operation tasks. From viewpoint of ergonomic engineering, the operation component should be placed within the workspace of the fingertip to reduced or eliminate the movement of palm and arm should to the greatest extent during finger manipulation. Therefore the research of the workspace of ginger is significant to the ergonomic design of the operation device. In this paper, the reachable workspace and workspace under direction restrain of contacting for the index finger are determined using serial mechanism model and the Penalty Function Method based on geometric measurement of human body. The optimal operating position and orientation of human finger is analyzed.


Author(s):  
M. Alizadeh ◽  
C. Ratanasawanya ◽  
M. Mehrandezh ◽  
R. Paranjape

A vision-based servoing technique is proposed for a 2 degrees-of-freedom (dof) model helicopter equipped with a monocular vision system. In general, these techniques can be categorized as image- and position-based, where the task error is defined in the image plane in the former and in the physical space in the latter. The 2-dof model helicopter requires a configuration-dependent feed-forward control to compensate for gravitational forces when servoing on a ground target. Therefore, a position-based visual servoing deems more appropriate for precision control. Image information collected from a ground object, with known geometry a priori, is used to calculate the desired pose of the camera and correspondingly the desired joint angles of the model helicopter. To assure a smooth servoing, the task error is parameterized, using the information obtained from the linearaized image Jacobian, and time scaled to form a moving reference trajectory. At the higher level, a Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR), augmented with a feed-forward term and an integrator, is used to track this trajectory. The discretization of the reference trajectory is achieved by an error-clamping strategy for optimal performance. The proposed technique was tested on a 2-dof model helicopter capable of pitch and yaw maneuvers carrying a light-weight off-the-shelf video camera. The test results show that the optimized controller can servo the model helicopter to a hovering pose for an image acquisition rate of as low as 2 frames per second.


Robotica ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
G Carbone ◽  
M Ceccarelli ◽  
C. E. Capalbo ◽  
G Caroleo ◽  
C Morales-Cruz

Abstract This paper presents a numerical and experimental validation of ExoFing, a two-degrees-of-freedom finger mechanism exoskeleton. The main functionalities of this device are investigated by focusing on its kinematic model and by computing its main operation characteristics via numerical simulations. Experimental tests are designed and carried out for validating both the engineering feasibility and effectiveness of the ExoFing system aiming at achieving a human index finger motion assistance with cost-oriented and user-friendly features.


2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Xu ◽  
Nabil Simaan

This paper presents a novel and unified analytic formulation for kinematics, statics, and shape restoration of multiple-backbone continuum robots. These robots achieve actuation redundancy by independently pulling and pushing three backbones to carry out a bending motion of two-degrees-of-freedom (DoF). A solution framework based on constraints of geometric compatibility and static equilibrium is derived using elliptic integrals. This framework allows the investigation of the effects of different external loads and actuation redundancy resolutions on the shape variations in these continuum robots. The simulation and experimental validation results show that these continuum robots bend into an exact circular shape for one particular actuation resolution. This provides a proof to the ubiquitously accepted circular-shape assumption in deriving kinematics for continuum robots. The shape variations due to various actuation redundancy resolutions are also investigated. The simulation results show that these continuum robots have the ability to redistribute loads among their backbones without introducing significant shape variations. A strategy for partially restoring the shape of the externally loaded continuum robots is proposed. The simulation results show that either the tip orientation or the tip position can be successfully restored.


2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauricio Torres Quezada ◽  
Roberto Sagaró Zamora ◽  
Leonardo Broche Vázquez ◽  
Denis Delisle Rodríguez ◽  
Alberto Lopez Delis

IntroIntroducción: Un exoesqueleto se conceptualiza como un mecanismo estructural externo cuyos segmentos y articulaciones se corresponden con las del cuerpo humano y es capaz de coordinar y amplificar sus movimientos. El objetivo del trabajo se enfoca en desarrollar una tecnología de plataforma robótica de asistencia y métodos de cuantificación para la rehabilitación motora de miembros superiores en ambientes clínicos y ambulatorios para pacientes con afecciones motoras como resultados de enfermedades cerebrovasculares.Métodos: Se presenta a partir de una concepción integradora el diseño del prototipo de un exoesqueleto que permite al paciente realizar movimientos combinados a partir de los cuatro grados de libertad que provee el dispositivo de rehabilitación. El sistema es controlado por medio de una interfaz de usuario desarrollada en Labview que soporta el control e interacción del usuario con el exoesqueleto, lo cual posibilita que el terapeuta puede modificar la rutina que debe realizar el paciente incluyendo nuevas trayectorias y el número de repeticiones a seguir por el exoesqueleto en las articulaciones de hombro, codo y muñeca. Adicionalmente, posibilita la retroalimentación visual de la actividad electromiográfica del paciente durante la rehabilitación.Resultados: Se presenta el diseño mecánico de la armadura, implementación de los sistemas de potencia, el desarrollo del sistema de control y de la interfaz de usuario así como su integración con el sistema mecánico.Conclusiones: Se desarrolla y pone en funcionamiento una avanzada plataforma robótica capaz de desarrollar diversas rutinas terapéuticas combinando 4 grados de libertad en hombro, codo y muñeca, capaz de controlar a través de la interfaz desarrollada desplazamientos regulados, exactos y repetitivos, así como seguir cronológicamente la evolución del paciente registrando la actividad mioeléctrica durante el proceso de rehabilitación.<br /><br /><br /><br />Background: Robot-assisted therapy or exoskeleton is an active mechanical device that can be easily adjusted to fit a different patient limb length, and is able to coordinate and amplify movements. The aim of this study focuses on developing a robotic training system and quantification methods for upper limbs rehabilitation in clinic environments to be used in survivor stroke patients with motor disorders or loss of physical strength on one side of the body.Methods: From an integrated approach, a design of one exoskeleton is presented which allows patients perform complex movements in four degrees of freedom (DOF) rehabilitation system. The system is controlled by means of user interface developed with Lab view v8.6 software that supports control and user interaction with the exoskeleton; so it’s possible for therapist to modify the patient routine including new movements and a number of repetitions in articulating joints of shoulder, elbow and wrist. On other hand system permits bio- feedback of electromyogram patient activity during rehabilitation sessions.Results: Biomechanical analyses and structure design, implementation of power systems, the development of the control system and user interface as well as its integration with the mechanical system is presented.</p><p><br />Conclusions: A robot arm exoskeleton device with four DOF; able to develop complex, accurate and repetitive therapeutic routines for articulating joints of shoulder, elbow and wrist trough an interface is shown. The device permits to follow chronologically patient outcomes recording the electromyogram activity during rehabilitation progress.


Sensors ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (24) ◽  
pp. 5469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiyong Li ◽  
Hai Huang ◽  
Yang Xu ◽  
Han Wu ◽  
Lei Wan

This paper presents an uncalibrated visual servoing scheme for underwater vehicle manipulator systems (UVMSs) with an eye-in-hand camera under uncertainties. These uncertainties contain vision sensor parameters, UVMS kinematics and feature position information. At first, a linear separation approach is addressed to collect these uncertainties into vectors, and this approach can also be utilized in other free-floating based manipulator systems. Secondly, a novel nonlinear adaptive controller is proposed to achieve image error convergence by estimating these vectors, the gradient projection method is utilized to optimize the restoring moments. Thirdly, a high order disturbance observer is addressed to deal with time-varying disturbances, and the convergence of the image errors is proved under the Lyapunov theory. Finally, in order to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, numerical simulations based on a 9 degrees of freedom (DOFs) UVMS with an eye-in-hand camera are conducted. In simulations, the UVMS is expected to track a circle trajectory on the image plane, meanwhile, time-varying disturbances are exerted on the system. The proposed scheme can achieve accurate and smooth tracking results during simulations.


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