In a study published in the January issue of the journal Scientific Reports, researchers at Texas A&M show that by delivering small, yet perceptible buzzes of electrical currents to fingertips, users can receive an accurate perception of distance to contact. This is critical during intricate procedures often performed remotely by surgeons using robot-assisted surgical systems.
These insights enabled users to control their robotic fingers precisely enough to gently land on fragile surfaces. This may be an effective way to help surgeons reduce inadvertent injuries during certain procedures.
To move their robotic fingers precisely, surgeons rely on live streaming visual information from cameras fitted on telerobotic arms. However, visual information is not enough to guide fine finger movements, which is critical when the fingers are in close vicinity of the brain or other delicate tissue.
To address this problem, Dr. Hangue Park and his team came up with an alternate way to deliver distance information that is independent of visual feedback. By passing different frequencies of electrical currents onto fingertips via gloves fitted with stimulation probes, the researchers trained users to associate the frequency of current pulses with distance, that is, increasing current frequencies indicated the closing distance from a test object. Park and his team also tailored their technology according to the user’s sensitivity to electrical current frequencies.
The researchers found that users receiving electrical pulses were more aware of the proximity to underlying surfaces and could lower their force of contact by around 70%, performing much better than the other group. Overall, they observed that proximity information delivered through mild electric pulses was about three times more effective than with visual information alone.
FEATURED RESEARCHER