Haptics for health

Researchers from John Hopkins University in the US have invented a way to include haptic feedback to medical robotic systems.

The innovation will help surgeons cope with their lost sense of touch when performing medical surgeries from a computer console with robotic tools.

'The surgeons have asked for this kind of feedback,' said Allison Okamura, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Johns Hopkins. 'So we're using our understanding of haptic technology to try to give surgeons back the sense of touch that they lose when they use robotic medical tools.'

Okamura is a leading researcher in human-machine interaction, particularly involving mechanical devices that convey touch-like sensations to a human operator. In recent years, she has focused on medical applications as a participant in the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center for Computer-Integrated Surgical Systems and Technology, based at Johns Hopkins. With funding from the National Institutes of Health and the NSF, she has established a collaboration with Intuitive Surgical, maker of the da Vinci robotic system used in many hospitals for heart and prostate operations.