Telecontrol function of an endoscopic surgical robot with two hands for tele-NOTES surgery.

We have been developing a surgical robot system with navigation function for abdominal surgery since 2001. Clinical feasibility of the robot has been evaluated by animal experiments. Endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) and other surgical procedures for Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES) were performed by the combined use of the robot manipulators. In this study, we developed a telecontrol system for the robot to perform an endoscopic abdominal robotic surgery using a robotic telesurgery method. By using a developed system, a telesurgery experiment was conducted between laboratories through LAN including the emulated network delay time. As a result, high-speed data transmission from the master device to the robot could be performed. We also confirmed the implementation of a telecontrol function for the surgical robot. In the near future, we will perform surgeries such as EMR and NOTES with the optimal telecontrol function.