Robotic Assistance-as-Needed for Enhanced Visuomotor Learning in Surgical Robotics Training: An Experimental Study

Abstract

Hands-on training is an indispensable part of surgical practice. As the tools used in the operating room become more intricate, the demand for efficient training methods increases. This work proposes a robotic assistance-as-needed method for training with surgical teleoperated robots. The method adapts the intensity of the assistance according to the trainee's current and past performance while gradually increasing the level of control of the trainee as the training progresses. The work includes an experiment comprising 160 acquisition sessions from 16 novice subjects performing a bimanual teleoperated exercise with a da Vinci Research Kit surgical console. Results capture the subtleties in the task's learning curve with and without robotic assistance and hint at the potential of robotic assistance for complex visuomotor training. Although robotic assistance for motor learning has received mixed results that range from beneficial to detrimental effects, this study shows such assistance may increase the rate of learning of certain skills in complex motor tasks.