Visual Feedback Function Research Articles

Impact of intraoperative noise measurement on the surgeon stress and patient outcomes. A prospective, controlled, single-center clinical trial with 664 patients

BackgroundThe impact of sound-activated noise meters to decrease the noise level in the operating room is not clear. The aim of this study was to determine whether a sound-activated, visual noise meter would decrease noise levels, decrease postoperative morbidity, and improve surgeons’ feelings of well-being. MethodsThis prospective, single-center study proceeded in 2 phases. First, sound levels were compared during a 6-month period with noise measurement only and without a visual feedback function. Second, we conducted a subsequent 6-month phase with noise meters providing direct feedback. Surgeon disturbance during the operation was assessed by a questionnaire after each procedure. ResultsOf the 664 procedures included in this analysis, 447 (67.3%) were in phase 1 and 217 (32.7%) in phase 2. The noise levels in the operating room were decreased by 3.8 dB(A) from 54.6 ± 4.5 dB(A) in phase 1 to 50.8 ± 2.8 dB(A) in phase 2 after intervention with the feedback device (P < .001). During the procedures, there was an increase of 0.7 dB(A) (P < .001), with mean noise levels of 53.5 dB(A) at the beginning of the procedures and 54.2 dB(A) at the end. There was a correlation between the disturbance of the surgeon and the noise level (P < .001). ConclusionThe application of a visual noise warning device in an operating room decreased both the noise levels and surgeon stress and may offer sustained decreases in ambient and peak sound levels, potentially leading to improved quality outcomes in visceral surgery.

Development of the orthogonal microrobot for accurate microscopic operations

In this paper, we describe the development of an orthogonal microrobot for accurate microscopic operations. To conduct the microscopic operation, a simple locomotion mechanism composed of one piezoelectric actuator and two U-shaped electromagnets is proposed. The orthogonal microrobot can move precisely in one-axis with the manner of an inchworm. We use permanent magnets so that this robot can fix itself on a steel surface when no voltage is applied. To provide XY orthogonal positioning, we connect one microrobot to another microrobot orthogonally. To realize cell processing, we arrange the three two-axial orthogonal microrobots on an inverted microscope. We load a simple micropump on right and left robots to hold biological samples such as an egg cell and to inject reagent solutions into biological samples. Finally, we arrange another microrobot between the other two microrobots to position samples. The whole cell processing device is very small, so we can easily set up the whole device to microprocessing instruments. In experiments, orthogonal microrobots succeeded in holding an egg cell with a diameter of 100 μm and sticking the pipette with a diameter of 5 μm into the egg cell under a specific GUI control system with a visual feedback function.

Effect of exteroceptive feedback in controlling electrodermal activity in pre-conditioned fears.

Ss with a strong fear of snakes were taught to increase and decrease their skin resistance during practice sessions with a continuous visual display. Ss were not aware that they were increasing or decreasing their levels of skin resistance and attempted only to influence the magnitude of the multimeter display, the polarity of which was controlled by the experimenter. The study used a within-subjects reversal design to investigate whether bidirectional control could be acquired over skin resistance level. To investigate whether this acquired control could affect the magnitude of elicited pre-conditioned autonomic responses, a pre- and post-training comparison was made between the GSRs elicited during test sessions in which Ss viewed slides of snakes while attempting to influence their electrodermal activity with the assistance of the visual display. The results suggest that Ss are able to acquire voluntarily bidirectional control of their level of skin resistance with continuous visual feedback and that this control can either depress or facilitate the magnitude of pre-conditioned emotional responses as a function of visual feedback.