A reconfigurable master device for a modular surgical robot and evaluation of its feasibility

A reconfigurable master device has been proposed for a reconfigurable modular surgical robot. A simulation-based experimental setup was developed to evaluate the feasibility of the master device. The time spent to perform a given task, the workload evaluated by the NASA TLX questionnaire, and the preference of the topology indicated by the subjects were used as evaluation items. The preliminary results suggested that the preferred topology may vary depending on the user, and the reconfigurable master device would let each surgeon customize the master device according to his/her own preferences.