At the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation in Mannheim, Germany and the surgical clinic of the University Hospital of Mannheim collaborators have developed a robotic surgical assistant that can operate certain intraop tools while controlled by the surgeon using hand gestures.
The device can hold onto existing tools used in the OR and introduce and retract some on its own. It’s controlled by hand gestures which are activated by the user grabbing onto a virtual dot presented on a screen and then moving the avatar of the user’s hand along with the tool in an intuitive manner. The surgeon can therefore maintain sterility more easily while controlling the device. There are safety mechanisms built into the software that runs the motors so that the patient is not accidentally injured and the researchers are working to improve usability by introducing voice controls and taking account for instruments the surgeon may be already holding onto.
Source: Fraunhofer…