Accuracy and speed trade-off in robot-assisted surgery

Background Controlling surgical task speed and maintaining accuracy are vital components of robotic surgical skills. This study was designed to investigate the relationship between accuracy and speed for robot-assisted surgical skills. Methods Ten participants were asked to alternately touch two circular targets with various dimensions and distances between two targets, using the da Vinci Surgical System. The design of this study was based on Fitt's law. Statistical correlations between the index of difficulty (ID) and the movement time (MT), as well as the ID and the smoothness of the movement, were analysed. Results A significant linear correlation between MT and ID was shown. Speed was reduced to maintain accuracy as the level of task difficulty increased. There was no significant correlation between the smoothness of the movement and ID. Conclusions The trade-off between speed and accuracy plays an important role in robot-assisted surgical proficiency. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.