Intuitive Surgical announces publication of two studies on Force Feedback tech

Intuitive announced the publication of two peer-reviewed studies in Surgical Endoscopy, on its first-of-its-kind Force Feedback technology incorporated in the da Vinci 5 surgical system. Force Feedback technology allows surgeons to feel the forces applied to tissue during surgery, such as pushing and pulling. These studies – conducted in the pre-clinical setting using tissue models – demonstrate its potential to reduce the amount of force placed on tissue during surgery and enhance surgeon performance. The first study, led by a team including Michael M. Awad MD, PhD, Professor of Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, showed that using Force Feedback technology can lead to a reduction in force on tissue by up to 43 percent, irrespective of the surgeon’s experience level. The study evaluated the forces applied to surgical models by 28 surgeons who had varying levels of experience when using Force Feedback technology during retraction, dissection, and suturing tasks. During robotic-assisted surgery, surgeons operate instruments through the da Vinci surgeon console and rely on visual cues to determine the force they are applying to tissue. Even during open surgery, where surgeons have access to their sense of touch, they still have no way of measuring the amount of force applied to tissue during the procedure. The second study, led by a team including Andrew J. Hung, MD, Associate Professor of Urology and Computational Biomedicine, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, in Los Angeles, showed that Force Feedback technology has the potential to improve novice surgeon performance by significantly reducing tissue trauma and errors during suturing, and time to complete suturing. The study evaluated the impact of Force Feedback technology on the suturing performance of 29 novice surgeons in a randomized pre-clinical study. Force Feedback technology is currently in use by a limited number of hospitals in the United States. Intuitive continues to study its use with customers and grow availability through 2025 and beyond.