Tele-virtual surgery with sharing tactile sensations between Japan and Germany

In this paper, we report the results of a tele-virtual surgery experiment between Japan and Germany. In this experiment, we tried to use a 1ch ISDN line. Participants at each location employed two graphic workstations for the surgical simulation and tele-conference. Each workstation had a force feedback device. These devices conveyed tactile sensations to the surgeons during the virtual surgical operation. A simulated hepatectomy was chosen for the experiment. Surgeons in each location palpated the patient's abdominal skin, and made electrical scalpel incisions and widened the incision line by using surgical tools in virtual space. We conducted an experiment in which two surgeons simulated virtual surgery while sharing identical tactile sensations over a long distance. It was possible to obtain real-time tele-virtual surgery without a large capacity communication infrastructure.