Human Factors in Tele-Inspection and Tele-Surgery.

In telesurgery a physician operates on a remote patient through a two-way communication and telerobot link. This first-year progress report describes development of a telesurgical simulator with force reflection and time delay, simulating what occurs with satellite communication. Also developed was a remotely controlled endoscopic tool. Using the simulator, preliminary experiments have been conducted with human subjects to evaluate alternative means to stabilize control movements under time delay, including a new technique combining sliding control with fuzzy control logic. Other experiments were conducted on cooperative manipulation where remote telemanipulation is combined with manipulation by a human assistant working local to the patient. Included with the latter are developments of computer graphical aids for communication between surgeon and assistant. Planned future experiments are described for both delay compensation and cooperative manipulation.