ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: The purposes of this paper were to measure the range of motion of instruments during the laparoscopic operation, and to determine the influential factors. Two tasks (transferring and suturing) were set up in a laparoscopic simulator and three groups (Group A: transferring via two sites; Group B: transferring via one site; and Group C: suturing via two sites) were classified. A tracking system was used to record the instrument position. The inserted length and shift angles of the instruments were then calculated. The results indicated that the range of motion of instruments differed within and between the different groups. The range of motion of instruments during the laparoscopic operation was limited to a small amorphous spatial space. The type of operation, surgical approaches, and left-right hand are important factors to determine the range of motion. This study can be beneficial for motion analysis or instrument design via different surgical approaches.
