Pneumatic Actuation in Haptic-Enabled Medical Simulators: A Review

Abstract

Haptic feedback is essential for achieving virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) systems with high fidelity and realism. Haptic-enabled VR/AR systems offer a proficient environment in which to enhance the skills of medical practitioners. While pneumatic actuation is traditionally used in heavy automation industries, haptics researchers have utilized pneumatic techniques to produce various haptic effects, i.e., stiffness feedback and contour control, and these techniques have shown promising results in the medical domain. In this paper, we focus on the use of pneumatic-actuated haptic systems in VR/AR-based medical simulators. We begin with the taxonomy of the physical-virtual continuum and discuss the role of pneumatics in medical haptic systems. Furthermore, we propose the conceptual design architecture of a pneumatic haptic system. In addition, the systematic state-of-the-art role of pneumatic haptics in medical systems is presented for different categories. In this paper, we provide a systematic review and discuss the study of pneumatics to provide guidelines for the design and development of pneumatic haptic medical systems.

Simulating a syringe behavior using a pneumatic cylinder haptic interface

“…Nevertheless pneumatic actuators have a natural compliance. It allows them to be used in various haptic applications with convincing results as Talhan et al [11] points out, ranging from force feedback gloves [12] to full sized haptic interfaces such as the BirthSIM [13]. The latter example helps obstetricians improve their skills during childbirth delivery.…”

A Review of Pneumatic Actuators Used for the Design of Medical Simulators and Medical Tools

“…The variety of medical applications of pneumatic actuators is progressively increasing. A recent review [48] lists the pneumatic actuated medical simulators. The authors focused on haptic simulators used for palpation and Minimal Invasive Surgery (MIS) training.…”

“…Pneumatics can also be used for tactile interfaces, such as in [61] for the simultaneous control of shape and mechanical properties in a tactile display. Some applications are listed in [48]. Other samples are introduced in [62] where pneumatic actuation is used to provide tactile feedback to achieve intraoperative localization of an early-stage gastric tumor that cannot be visually detected during laparoscopic surgery, or in [63] where a pneumatic actuated haptic glove featuring silicone-made cavities located at the fingertips and the center of the palm of the user make users perceive soft skins with different shape, stiffness, and homogeneity.…”

Granular Jamming Based Controllable Organ Design for Abdominal Palpation

“…Hyde et al created a human-like palpation prototype with premade replaceable liver models [7]. Researchers have also used pneumatic actuation for the simulation of shape and mechanical property of soft tissue [8], [9], [10]. Some other previous works of medical simulators focus on computeraided virtual simulation, such as the virtual-reality index finger feedback simulator for prostate cancer diagnosis training designed by Burdea et al [11] and the Virginia Prostate Examination Simulator [12].…”