ABSTRACT
A special case of human-robot interaction (HRI) is when human tissues are manipulated by a robotic arm, which is a phenomenon generally described as tool-tissue interaction. Modern telesurgical systems present a unique case of HRI, as the interaction appears at both the master and slave devices, leading to a human-robot-human loop. From the design and control point of view, this architecture is rather challenging, where an accurate model of the operator, the slave device, and the interaction with the manipulated medium is essential in order to achieve a stable, accurate, and reliable performance. This chapter discusses the challenges of HRI in telesurgical systems, presenting a novel method for enhancing force feedback using a model-based approach. The aim of this approach is to address the design challenges of telesurgical systems used in modern medicine, which arise from the complexity, the communication delay, and the integration of haptic feedback between the master and slave devices. This way, the most relevant qualitative and quantitative indicators of robotic systems can be improved. In order to achieve the target goals, modeling of the tool-tissue interaction during the procedures is crucial, which requires the formulation and verification of a generalized mechanical soft tissue model. This can be used for reliable reaction force estimation during a predefined surgical intervention. This chapter extends the scope of usability of a presented and verified soft tissue model, discussing its possible integration into a user-defined model-based control method, which allows one for its implementation into modern surgical robotics systems. Along with force control, challenges of haptic feedback in telesurgical systems are also addressed in terms of safety and system stability, with special attention given to latency-induced difficulties in the context of HRI.
