ABSTRACT
The development of autonomous or semi-autonomous surgical robots stands to improve the performance of existing teleoperated equipment, but requires fine hand-eye calibration between the free-moving endoscopic camera and patient-side manipulator arms (PSMs). A novel method of solving this problem for the da Vinci® robotic surgical system and kinematically similar systems is presented. First, a series of image-processing and optical-tracking operations are performed to compute the coordinate transformation between the endoscopic camera view frame and an optical-tracking marker permanently affixed to the camera body. Then, the kinematic properties of the PSM are exploited to compute the coordinate transformation between the kinematic base frame of the PSM and an optical marker permanently affixed thereto. Using these transformations, it is then possible to compute the spatial relationship between the PSM and the endoscopic camera using only one tracker snapshot of the two markers. The effectiveness of this calibration is demonstrated by successfully guiding the PSM end effector to points of interest identified through the camera. Additional tests on a surgical task, namely grasping a surgical needle, are also performed to validate the proposed method. The resulting visually-guided robot positioning accuracy is better than the earlier hand-eye calibration results reported in the literature for the da Vinci® system, while supporting intraoperative update of the calibration and requiring only devices that are already commonly used in the surgical environment.
ABSTRACT
Technological advances have made it possible to integrate a variety of functions into "smart" wheelchairs that include robotics but also sensors that support telehealth and communication applications. The purpose of this study was to identify possible features that current older adult wheelchair users identify as being most helpful and most important and to use scenarios to determine acceptability of potential features. A small pilot study including 5 wheelchair users residing an assisted living facility was conducted that included a questionnaire and a focus group. The participants identified safety-related features as most helpful and important. Within the scenarios presented, the safety-related features were identified as highly acceptable. Features that were available with current technology (e.g. communication with family) were least highly rated. While more research is needed on user preferences, "smart" wheelchair developers will want to include user preferences and focus on safety and telehealth features.
