Surgical device improves feel with gentle vibrations

A prerequisite for being a surgeon is having a steady hand, but engineers from Hiroshima University are hoping to shake up surgery.

As a way to increase surgeon sensitivity during minimally invasive procedures, engineers have developed a small device that vibrates at a constant rate to help surgeons sense the different shapes and textures inside a patient’s body.

The PZT Actuator attaches to a surgeon's favorite surgical tool and vibrates in the surgeon's palm at a constant rate. The vibrations are so subtle they cannot be sensed. However, this constant, uniform vibration enhances the surgeon's sensitivity to other, irregular sensations. The natural variations of touching different tissues with a metal tool may normally be too subtle for the surgeon to detect, but the PZT Actuator can boost the sensation to a noticeable level.

During minimally invasive surgeries, surgeons rely on long, thin, metal tools to explore their patients' bodies. Such laparoscopic surgeries benefit patients by reducing the size of surgical cuts and minimizing scarring, but surgeons can no longer use their fingers to directly touch patients to sense essential information about their organs.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-08-vibrations-tools-surgeons.html#jCp 

"We started this work six years ago, trying to enhance human fingertip sensitivity, but in 2012, I had the idea that increased sensitivity could be valuable during minimally invasive surgeries. Typical medical tools obtain information about the patient's condition. There are very few devices that aim to enhance the doctor's skill," said Yuichi Kurita, PhD, lead author of the study and associate professor at Japan's Hiroshima University.

The PZT Actuator can be attached to any surgical device and vibrates at a constant pace, enhancing the surgeon’s sensitivity to different tissues within the body. A study was conducted on volunteers who were blindfolded and used forceps with the PZT Actuator to see if they could identify different types of sandpaper and find a Styrofoam ball within a cup. Results showed a vibration range could improve sensitivity for the user.

"Our next set of experiments will confirm the usefulness of the PZT Actuator in surgical situations. Before we can give this tool to surgeons, we must also develop a method to maintain good hygiene of the device so it is always safe for patients," said Kurita.