Learning to perceive haptic distance-to-break in the presence of friction.

Two experiments employed attunement and calibration training to investigate whether observers are able to identify material break points in compliant materials through haptic force application. The task required participants to attune to a recently identified haptic invariant, distance-to-break (DTB), rather than haptic stimulation not related to the invariant, including friction. In the first experiment participants probed simulated force-displacement relationships (materials) under 3 levels of friction with the aim of pushing as far as possible into the materials without breaking them. In a second experiment a different set of participants pulled on the materials. Results revealed that participants are sensitive to DTB for both pushing and pulling, even in the presence of varying levels of friction, and this sensitivity can be improved through training. The results suggest that the simultaneous presence of friction may assist participants in perceiving DTB. Potential applications include the development of haptic training programs for minimally invasive (laparoscopic) surgery to reduce accidental tissue damage. (PsycINFO Database Record

Assessing surgeon and novice force skill on a haptic stiffness simulator for laparoscopic surgery.

Though several simulators and training methods are available for basic laparoscopic skills, few have addressed force-based skills. In this work, we discuss a haptic simulator that renders virtual materials of different stiffness profiles to be used for haptic skills differentiation. A force-based task was designed on the simulator and the performance of surgeons and novices was analyzed. Results indicate that surgeons and novices differ in their ability to use the haptic device to reproduce target stiffness levels. This work provides an important step towards quantifying haptic skill metrics for the design of surgical skills training simulators.

Haptic tasks for physical laparoscopic ("Box") trainers to differentiate surgeon skill.

In this work, we present four tasks, primarily testing haptic laparoscopic skill that can be simulated in a conventional box trainer. Results from examining expert surgeon and novice performance is presented as evidence that these tasks can be used for training haptic skills for laparoscopy in a box trainer.