Abstract
Background Steering the tip of a flexible endoscope relies on the physician’s
dexterity and experience. For complex flexible endoscopes, conventional
controls may be inadequate.
Methods A steering method based on a multi-degree-of-freedom haptic
device is presented. Haptic cues are generated based on the endoscopic
images. The method is compared against steering using the same haptic
device without haptic cues, and against conventional steering. Human-subject
studies were conducted in which 12 students and 6 expert gastroenterologists
participated.
Results Experts are significantly faster when using the conventional method
compared with using the haptic device, either with or without haptic cues.
However, it is expected that the performance of the subjects with the haptic
device will increase with experience.
Conclusions Using a haptic device may be a viable alternative to the
conventional method for the control of complex flexible endoscopes. The
results suggest that the use of haptic cues may reduce the patient discomfort.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 178-186 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | The International Journal of Medical Robotics and Computer Assisted Surgery |
| Volume | 7 |
| Publication status | Published - 2011 |