“Motor-driven devices provide more responsive control because there is less mechanical delay,” Canavan added, “but there is a challenge in the feedback that the surgeon receives.” “Feel is what [surgeons] rely on. As a result, we need technologies that are intelligent enough to allow them to deploy larger forces in more difficult places while also providing [haptic] input.” “With a motor-driven gadget, you’re removing the force aspect,” Canavan explained. The Monarch robotic system, which Johnson & Johnson acquired for $3.4 billion from Auris Health last year, is an excellent example of this tendency, he said. “Once that begins to happen, the worlds of gaming and surgery begin to mix. As a result, one can learn from the other.”

Canavan expressed his thoughts

With these motor-driven devices, we may begin to elevate human potential by going deeper and deeper into the body without sacrificing precision.” With this in mind, Design Partners developed the Motus/D surgical gadget prototype (shown below). It’s a motor-driven stent-delivery device with in-handle electronics that allow the trigger to be pressure-sensitive, allowing the wire to be controlled steadily and precisely. That’s where Eugene Canavan’s surgical equipment design knowledge comes in handy for Design Partners. Canavan, who leads the firm’s healthcare design team as an industrial designer and human factors/ergonomic specialist, has more than 25 years of experience creating products for companies including Abbott, Medtronic, and Shire. Canavan observed, “Sometimes I perceive the world of medicine inside the body as if it were Star Trek.” Surgeons are deploying stents and transcatheter heart valves through exceedingly small incisions and directing them through tortuous anatomical paths to progressively distal portions of the body as minimally invasive and robotic surgery develops, coupled with downsizing. “Mechanical deployment handles, which are widespread in surgical applications currently,” Canavan added, “are teetering on the border of what is humanly conceivable.” “The fascinating thing about the human body is that it can be extremely precise or extremely forceful, but it’s quite rare to be able to do both. So if I wanted to perform something with a lot of force, I usually had to sacrifice a lot of precision, which is a major sacrifice in the realm of surgery.” In the game sector, haptic feedback is also growing popular.

Gaming Experiences

Most modern gaming experiences use vibration via a keyboard or handheld controller to mimic a player shooting a machine gun or colliding into another vehicle in a racing game, for example. According to GamesRadar+, haptic feedback introduces a considerably larger range of vibration strength based on the experience being mimicked. “At Design Partners and with our healthcare customers, one of our success stories is that we integrate this degree of immersion into the design process by designing for the senses,” Conaire added. “This is referred to as sensory engagement. Our brain is confined in this dark cavern of our skull with no access to the real world except through our senses, and we experience the world around us through various sensory impulses. We put a lot of emphasis on sensory awareness in the design approach we’ve created.” And he’s not just talking about the five senses (touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste). “Depending on how you describe them, we have anywhere from 10 to 33 senses,” Conaire added. “Creating products with sensory awareness allows us to work with greater precision and control, deepening our grasp of things like tactility, ergonomics, and human aspects, as Eugene mentioned.” As the industry approaches closer to widespread implementation of telerobotic surgery, sensory awareness becomes increasingly critical. “Before the entire healthcare business goes trotting into these types of futuristic experiences, we want to make sure that the experiences are predicated on really solid principals of immersion, control, and precision,”

Canavan expressed his thoughts.

With these motor-driven devices, we may begin to elevate human potential by going deeper and deeper into the body without sacrificing precision.” With this in mind, Design Partners developed the Motus/D surgical gadget prototype (shown below). It’s a motor-driven stent-delivery device with in-handle electronics that allow the trigger to be pressure-sensitive, allowing the wire to be controlled steadily and precisely. Design Partners provided this image. The idea for a surgical instrument was inspired by gaming technology. According to the two Design Partners specialists, the handle is light and compact, making it easier to operate while still being highly efficient in the relatively little space surrounding the patient. They also mentioned that the design is compact, with a minimal number of easily broken down and recyclable parts. They stressed that the device is meant to allow the surgeon to focus entirely on precision rather than striving to achieve the proper level of force. The surgeon, like the player, controls the handle and determines whether to slow down or speed up depending on what’s going on on screen. They noted that the surgeon now has a level of control that isn’t possible with traditional mechanical instruments. The Monarch robotic system, which Johnson & Johnson acquired for $3.4 billion from Auris Health last year, is an excellent example of this tendency, he said. “Once that begins to happen, the worlds of gaming and surgery begin to mix. As a result, one can learn from the other. Motor-driven deployment devices have emerged as a prospective addition to the robotic surgeon’s toolkit for this reason. “With a motor-driven gadget, you’re removing the force aspect,” Canavan explained.