Visual Force-Feedback Interfacing for Image-guided Telemanipulated Robotic Surgical Systems

Robot-assisted procedures are perpetually evolving due to potential improvement in patient management and reduction in the overall cost. Integration of an imaging modality intraoperatively further strengthens these procedures by incorporating the information pertaining to the area of intervention. In a telemanipulated system, this information needs to be rendered effectively to the operator. Among the procedures, which can benefit from real-time guidance are robot-assisted intracardiac interventions, such as valvuloplasties, on the beating heart. In this work, we propose an approach for the integration of real-time MRI with the telemanipulated surgical setup and the processing of the imaging data on-the-fly to provide both real-time visualization and force-feedback-based guidance to the operator for maneuvering an interventional tool safely inside the dynamic environment of a heart. Experimental studies demonstrate the improvement in control and manipulation by providing assistance to the operator in realtime via the visual-force feedback interface.