Examining the Impact of Delay on Tele-robotic Surgical Operability through Brain Activity Evaluation

In tele-surgery, surgeons remotely operate a surgical robot via the leader-follower system. However, communication delays often lead to challenges that can affect the ease of operation. In this study, we evaluated the intuitive operability of surgical robotic systems by measuring brain activation in the intraparietal sulcus, which serves as an interface between visual information and body motor control. The participants completed a suturing task in virtual reality using a surgical simulator. We randomly introduced time delays while measuring brain activity using functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy. We found significant differences in task completion time and activity in the right intraparietal sulcus according to the delay time. According to our data, delays of 300 ms or more could be identified as one of the indicators that negatively affect intuitive operability in tele-surgery.