Real-time measurement of tool-tissue interaction forces in neurosurgery: Quantification and analysis

Abstract

Understanding the amount of forces exerted to the brain tissue during the performance of surgical tasks in neurosurgery is critical for educating trainees. Quantifying such forces can help trainees gain important information about the appropriate amount of force required to safely, yet effectively, complete microsurgical tasks. This paper reports the amount of forces exerted during the performance of neurosurgical tasks by means of a force-sensing bipolar forceps, retrofitted by a set of force sensing components. An experienced surgeon and a surgical team conducted a variety of microsurgical tasks on a cadaver brain using the developed instrumented bipolar forceps, while the forces of dissections were measured real-time. Results showed that depending on the surgical task, the peak (effective) value of dissection forces varied between 0.50 N and 1.84 N. Correlation between calculated force signals, during performance of different trials for the same task was investigated using cross correlation test. Results indicated a strong link between the forces measured in different trials.