| Summary: | The adoption of Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) and Robot-Assisted MIS has resulted in the distortion of haptic cues surgeons rely on. The application of excessive force during port creation has lead to increased surgical access trauma. This study aims to quantify the forces experienced during port creation with a blunt-ended Threaded Visual Cannula (TVC) in an effort to ameliorate patient safety, provide a quantitative platform for surgeon training, and offer a gateway for the eventual automation of this problematic aspect of MIS. A method of determining the torque encountered during port creation was established. It was found that the magnitude of torque required to cannulate different materials was unique and was dictated by the friction observed at the tool/tissue interface. Furthermore, the ability to detect instantaneous changes in torque arising from the transition between two different media was not found to be possible with the current design of the TVC.
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