Tactile feedback exceeds visual feedback to display tissue slippage in a laparoscopic grasper
Westebring-van der Putten, E.P.; Lysen, W.W.; Henssen, V.D.; Koopmans, N.; Goossens, R.H.M.; van den Dobbelsteen, J.J.; Dankelman, J.; Jakimowcz, J.
Studies in Health Technology and Informatics 142: 420-425
2009
ISSN/ISBN: 0926-9630 PMID: 19377198 Document Number: 635615
Virtual reality can help to learn basic laparoscopic tasks. However, no haptic feedback, which alerts for tissue slippage, is provided by most simulators, although, it might be of influence for the decrease of errors. This study explored whether visual or tactile feedback can be used to alert the surgeon of tissue slippage. Twenty-four participants performed a laparoscopic grasping task and where provided with either visual or tactile feedback about tissue slippage. The reaction time with the visual feedback was compared to the reaction time with tactile feedback signal. The results showed that when tissue slippage is simulated, tactile feedback shows significant faster reaction times (269ms) than visual feedback signals (398ms).