Abstract
Purpose
To determine the impact of communication latency on telesurgical performance using the robotic simulator dV-Trainer\(^{\textregistered }\)
Methods
Surgeons were enrolled during three robotic congresses. They were randomly assigned to a delay group (ranging from 100 to 1000 ms). Each group performed three times a set of four exercises on the simulator: the first attempt without delay (Base) and the last two attempts with delay (Warm-up and Test). The impact of different levels of latency was evaluated.
Results
Thirty-seven surgeons were involved. The different latency groups achieved similar baseline performance with a mean task completion time of 207.2 s (\(p>0.05\)). In the Test stage, the task duration increased gradually from 156.4 to 310.7 s as latency increased from 100 to 500 ms. In separate groups, the task duration deteriorated from Base for latency stages at delays \(\ge \)300 ms, and the errors increased at 500 ms and above (\(p\,<\) 0.05). The subjects’ performance tended to improve from the Warm-up to the Test period. Few subjects completed the tasks with a delay higher than 700 ms.
Conclusion
Gradually increasing latency has a growing impact on performances. Measurable deterioration of performance begins at 300 ms. Delays higher than 700 ms are difficult to manage especially in more complex tasks. Surgeons showed the potential to adapt to delay and may be trained to improve their telesurgical performance at lower-latency levels.
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Abbreviations
- ATM line:
-
Asynchronous transfer mode line
- ms:
-
Millisecond
- PB1:
-
Peg-Board 1
- CT2:
-
Camera Targeting 2
- TR1:
-
Thread the Ring 1
- ED1:
-
Energy Dissection 1
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The authors Manuela Perez, Song Xu, Sanket Chauhan, Alyssa Tanaka, Khara Simpson, Haidar Abdul-Muhsin and Roger Smith declare they have no disclosure or conflict of interest to declare
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Grant Information: Funding Source: U.S. Army Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center. Grant #: W81XWH-11-2-0158. The Grant was provided to the Florida Hospital Nicholson Center without personal benefit for the authors.
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Perez, M., Xu, S., Chauhan, S. et al. Impact of delay on telesurgical performance: study on the robotic simulator dV-Trainer. Int J CARS 11, 581–587 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11548-015-1306-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11548-015-1306-y