DeviceFirst in HumanTherapeutic A Novel Smart Operating Room Concept: Gaze-Controlled Based Robotic Scrub Nurse

Hamlyn researchers proposed a novel smart operating room concept by using gaze-controlled based robotic scrub nurse, aiming to aid surgical process.

Within laparoscopic surgery, robotic devices have been developed to improve clinical outcomes, in so consolidating the shifts towards minimally invasive surgery (MIS). According to recent research reports, assistive robotic devices (ARD) have been evidentially proved that they do improve patient outcomes in surgery.

ARD in surgery describes machinery that is controlled by the surgeon in support of surgical task delivery. In general, ARD afford surgical teams’ touch-less interaction, enhanced information accessibility and task execution. It thus could be seen as a “third hand” for surgeon in ad-hoc intra-operative surgical process.

In comparison with conventional laparoscopy, ARD can offer the surgical team to perform wider tasks and more degrees of motion. Moreover, ARD can also play a role to improve staff and patient safety, workflow and overall team performance.

On the other hand, robotic scrub nurses (RSN) support the surgeon in selecting and delivering surgical instrument. Although there are currently several advanced developments in RSN on voice recognition interface (VRI) and hand gestures recognition, the limitation of both approaches cannot be neglected (such as the practicality of disruptive hand gestures and failures in voice recognition when scrubbed in noisy operating theatres).

This research was supported by the NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre (BRC).

More information and the full story by Erh-Ya (Asa) Tsui, can be found here.

© Imperial College London