Abstract
As opposed to open surgery procedures, minimally invasive surgery (MIS) utilizes small skin incisions to insert a camera and surgical instruments. MIS has numerous advantages such as reduced postoperative pain, shorter hospital stay, faster recovery time, and reduced learning curve for surgical trainees. MIS comprises surgical approaches, including laparoscopic surgery, endoscopic surgery, and robotic-assisted surgery. Despite the advantages that MIS provides to patients and surgeons, it remains limited by the lost sense of touch due to the indirect contact with tissues under operation, especially in robotic-assisted surgery. Surgeons, without haptic feedback, could unintentionally apply excessive forces that may cause tissue damage. Therefore, incorporating tactile sensation into MIS tools has become an interesting research topic. Designing, fabricating, and integrating force sensors onto different locations on the surgical tools are currently under development by several companies and research groups. In this context, electrical force sensing modality, including piezoelectric, resistive, and capacitive sensors, is the most conventionally considered approach to measure the grasping force, manipulation force, torque, and tissue compliance. For instance, piezoelectric sensors exhibit high sensitivity and accuracy, but the drawbacks of thermal sensitivity and the inability to detect static loads constrain their adoption in MIS tools. Optical-based tactile sensing is another conventional approach that facilitates electrically passive force sensing compatible with magnetic resonance imaging. Estimations of applied loadings are calculated from the induced changes in the intensity, wavelength, or phase of light transmitted through optical fibers. Nonetheless, new emerging technologies are also evoking a high potential of contributions to the field of smart surgical tools. The recent development of flexible, highly sensitive tactile microfluidic-based sensors has become an emerging field in tactile sensing, which contributed to wearable electronics and smart-skin applications. Another emerging technology is imaging-based tactile sensing that achieved superior multi-axial force measurements by implementing image sensors with high pixel densities and frame rates to track visual changes on a sensing surface. This article aims to review the literature on MIS tactile sensing technologies in terms of working principles, design requirements, and specifications. Moreover, this work highlights and discusses the promising potential of a few emerging technologies towards establishing low-cost, high-performance MIS force sensing.
Highlights
Invasive surgery (MIS) has changed surgical practices during the last three decades, and it has attracted the attention of many researchers who are trying to contribute to its development
The recent advances in sensing technologies and robotics have fueled the development of tactile sensors, especially for minimally invasive surgery (MIS)
With the aid of tactile sensors, MIS tools can become more valuable in surgical practices and achieve better medical outcomes
Summary
Invasive surgery (MIS) has changed surgical practices during the last three decades, and it has attracted the attention of many researchers who are trying to contribute to its development. MIS approaches have become the gold standard of several common procedures in our daily practice, including appendectomy, cholecystectomy, and hernia repairs (Litynski, 1999) Such revolutionary advances would not have been made possible without the development of improved instruments, anesthesia, and advanced optical methods (Lane, 2018). In an attempt to improve current techniques and technologies, the concept of minimally invasive robotic surgery (MIRS) was introduced, where surgeons operate medical robots to perform MIS procedures. The profound development of these minimally invasive techniques started in the early 1970s when Shinya and Wolfe reported the first experiences of removing colon polyps using rigid colonoscopes, procedures characterized by minimal morbidity and mortality These were the formal beginnings of a new era called “endoscopic surgery.”. The field of research is advancing by leaps and bounds in order to provide the patient with the best possible clinical outcomes (Alderson, 2019)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
