Robot Assisted Surgery

Robot Assisted Surgery (RAS) involves the use of mechanical “arms” controlled by a qualified surgeon to preform medical procedures. The benefits of the technology often include reduced patient blood loss, reduced patient recovery time, the ability to work at a micro-scale – preforming more delicate work and doing less damage to surrounding healthy tissues, especially nerves, and allowing the surgeon to work in smaller, more confined areas of the human body, such as the male pelvis.

OSU’s CSEL performed some of the first research studies on how RAS was changing the operating environment. Most notably, these projects were the first to quantify the skill and cognitive changes required success between RAS and its predecessor technique, laparoscopy.

This pioneering research lead to changes in the way clinicians are trained for participation in RAS procedures as well as the development of new cooperation safety protocols for the protection of staff assisting the surgeon while the robot is in use.

Researchers:

Asher Balkin

Related Publications:

Balkin, E. A., Kumar, S., Manko, V., Jahn, M. A., So, J., & Antonik, C. (2014). Robot-Assisted Surgery and the Nature of Remote Work: Lessons for Medicine From Other Fields. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Human Factors and Ergonomics in Health Care, 3(1), 71–75. https://doi.org/10.1177/2327857914031010

Balkin, E. A. (2013). How Surgical Robotics Transform the Development of Expertise in Modern Operating Rooms: An Ethnographic Study. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 57(1), 693–697. https://doi.org/10.1177/1541931213571150