TY - GEN
T1 - Vibrotactile feedback improves laparoscopic palpation skills
AU - Zhou, Mi
AU - Cao, Caroline G.L.
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - Sensory augmentation using vibrotactile stimulation has been shown to compensate for distorted haptic feedback in tissue compliance differentiation tasks in laparoscopic surgery. This study investigated its usefulness for tumor palpation. A controlled experiment was conducted using a wearable vibrotactile device that responded with various levels of vibration signal parameters (i.e., amplitude, frequency and duty-cycle) as a function of applied force during a palpation task. Results showed that subjects were able to perform more accurately and more confidently, applying lower peak forces and smaller force ranges to make a judgment regarding the presence of an embedded structure, with vibrotactile augmentation than without. In addition, as more parameters of the vibration signal were modulated (up to three), the vibrotactile augmentation tended to be more effective, possibly due to the greater information content in the multi-parameter signal. This suggests that palpation can be improved by implementing a vibration device that is capable of multi-dimensional modulation. However, the design of the vibration device should balance the advantage of providing additional information for effective information transmission with that of signal redundancy and complexity.
AB - Sensory augmentation using vibrotactile stimulation has been shown to compensate for distorted haptic feedback in tissue compliance differentiation tasks in laparoscopic surgery. This study investigated its usefulness for tumor palpation. A controlled experiment was conducted using a wearable vibrotactile device that responded with various levels of vibration signal parameters (i.e., amplitude, frequency and duty-cycle) as a function of applied force during a palpation task. Results showed that subjects were able to perform more accurately and more confidently, applying lower peak forces and smaller force ranges to make a judgment regarding the presence of an embedded structure, with vibrotactile augmentation than without. In addition, as more parameters of the vibration signal were modulated (up to three), the vibrotactile augmentation tended to be more effective, possibly due to the greater information content in the multi-parameter signal. This suggests that palpation can be improved by implementing a vibration device that is capable of multi-dimensional modulation. However, the design of the vibration device should balance the advantage of providing additional information for effective information transmission with that of signal redundancy and complexity.
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U2 - 10.1518/107118109x12524442637020
DO - 10.1518/107118109x12524442637020
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:77951595742
SN - 9781615676231
T3 - Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
SP - 738
EP - 742
BT - 53rd Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting 2009, HFES 2009
PB - Human Factors an Ergonomics Society Inc.
T2 - 53rd Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting 2009, HFES 2009
Y2 - 19 October 2009 through 23 October 2009
ER -