Earticle

This study proposes the design of a compact haptic actuator that can be integrated into laparoscopic scissors. In laparoscopic surgery, surgical proficiency is crucial owing to visual and spatial constraints, and a haptic feedback device with diverse force profiles can significantly contribute to skill improvement. Active actuators like AC or DC motors are too bulky for handheld devices like haptic laparoscopic scissors and suffer from instability issues that disrupt the interaction with the physical environment. To address these constraints, we designed a haptic brake based on the properties of magnetorheological (MR) fluid. The proposed haptic brake can generate a torque of up to 78.4 N·mm using the viscosity change of MR fluid under a magnetic field, with a power consumption of 1.5 W. Simulation results and theoretical calculations were used to derive the optimum design variables, enabling the implementation of a compact and efficient haptic feedback mechanism. This study is expected to contribute to enhancing the performance of laparoscopic-surgery simulators, thereby improving the realism and user experience of virtual surgical training by providing effective haptic feedback in actual laparoscopic surgical environments.