2013 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation
Karlsruhe, May 6 - 10, 2013

The conference theme is "Anthropomatics – Technologies for Humans", highlighting the paramount role of Robotics and Automation in improving human quality of life.

We are proud to announce μRALP will be participating to this event!

The following research article will be presented:

• Imaging based Metrics for Performance Assessment in Laser Phonomicrosurgery

Abstract— State-of-the-art laser phonomicrosurgery (LP) used for the treatment of abnormalities in the larynx involves complex otolaryngological surgical techniques. The traditional laser aiming control relies heavily on surgeon dexterity and requires significant psychomotor skills. Scalability, operative distance, and the anatomically small nature of the vocal folds all combine to compound the surgical challenges. In this paper, imaging based feature extraction is presented as a method to establish performance metrics that allow an objective measurement of equipment usability, surgeon performance and learning progress in performing LP. The metrics establish an objective rating scale for surgeon skill assessment and equipment usability. From preliminary experimental analysis, it is seen that the metrics allow to distinguish between levels of surgical performance with the equipment. The combined metric rating scale gives a robust quantitative measure for performance assessment.