What follows is a brief list of the project's objectives and research questions:

1. Develop new methods to improve pre- and intra-operative 3D reconstruction tools by creating accurate patient-specific deformable organ models with physical behaviour compatible with haptic feedback.

a. Are 3D reconstruction algorithms adequate for demanding interventions?

b. Can algorithms be matched to surgery type?

c. Are organs producing a realistic behaviour for simulating and planning a surgical intervention?

d. Is the computer able to model all the required anatomical invariants?

e. Is in-vitro calibration of the surgical plan possible and sufficient with intra-operative in-vivo sensing?

2. Develop new methods for the realistic simulation of surgical operations on patient specific anatomical models generating force feedback data and capable of update during the intervention.

a. Can we model the strains and stresses of the simulated organs with a sufficient precision?

b. Can the dynamic model be computed accurately enough in real time?

c. How well can we model pathological tissues with unknown characteristics?

d. Can we model true general topological changes in the organs?

3. Create new methods for pre-operative surgical planning capable of satisfying all position and force constraints of an intervention, capable of validating the plan in a virtual reality surgical simulator with haptic feedback, and capable of generating the set of monitoring instructions for a surgical robot.

4. Develop a surgical simulator that can be perfectly interchangeable with the real surgical robot.

a. Can all the constraints on safe intervention be identified and represented?

b. Can the constraints be represented in mathematical terms as maximal forces and restricted paths/areas?

c. Can we provide enough information for intra-operative safe re-planning by the surgeon?

5. Developing new ICT methods that would continuously detect the operating room activities, monitor the surgical robot performance, and update the organ position and shape, to identify potential safety risks with comparisons between planned and real situations.

a. How can the accuracy and precision of the robot be guaranteed?

b. Can robot performance be monitored to avoid any inaccuracy?

c. Can we measure the robot response fidelity in teleoperation?

d. Can the OR sensing guarantee safe human robot interaction?

e. Is there a conflict between the human and the robot?

f. Can a safe distance be guaranteed between a human and the surgeon?
Can the real-time organ deformation and position be monitored and modelled using intra-operative sensors?

g. How precise can be the deformable organ registration?

6. Develop an operator interface for robot-assisted surgery that provides complete "tele-presence" to the operating surgeon and that does not fatigue the surgeon with an excessive cognitive load.

a. Is the operator interface capable of faithful reproduction of the surgical area?

b. Can tremor filtering and force scaling affect robot accuracy?

c. What is the interplay of stereo vision and haptics?

7. Assess the applicability of the current training methods for laparoscopic surgery to robotic surgery, and develop new specific training methods for robotic surgery.

a. Can a good level of performance be guaranteed by using the simulator for surgeon training?

b. What tests can be developed?