Development of a remote minimally-invasive surgical system with operational environment transmission capability

This paper describes a tele-endoscopic surgical system with force feedback capability. The system consists of multi-media cockpit, surgical site and communication link. The multimedia cockpit is equipped with force feedback type master manipulators, visual and auditory information presentation apparatuses, and foot switches. A slave manipulator with 3 arms is located at the surgical site; the left and right arms hold forceps or a radio knife and the center arm holds an endoscope. The slave manipulator has a special safety mechanism. Vital signs can be also transmitted to the cockpit. In the experiment, a cholecystectomy was successfully performed on a pig at the distance of 150 km.