Force-feedback gloves for a surgical robotic system

1. A method comprising:

applying, via a force-feedback mechanism of a glove that is worn on a hand of a user, a force upon the hand;

determining that the user is performing a hand gesture; and

controlling a surgical instrument of a robotic system based on the hand gesture.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hand gesture is a hand movement, wherein controlling the surgical instrument comprises moving the surgical instrument to mimic the hand movement.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the applied force corresponds to a physical representation of a virtual object being held by the hand of the user.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising applying, via a haptic feedback mechanism of the glove, a plurality of forces upon the hand of the user that represent a surface and texture of the physical representation of the virtual object.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the performed hand gesture manipulates the virtual object, wherein the surgical instrument is controlled according to the manipulated virtual object.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein the virtual object has a location within a physical space that is proximate to a palmar side of the glove and is stationary with respect to the glove such that the virtual object mirrors movements of the glove within the physical space.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hand gesture is a squeezing motion, wherein the method further comprises:

determining that the user performs a releasing motion; and

ceasing to 1) apply the force upon the hand and 2) control the surgical instrument, responsive to the user performing the releasing motion.

8. A robotic system, comprising:

a glove configured to be worn on a hand of a user and including a force-feedback mechanism;

a processor; and

memory having instructions which when executed by the processor causes the system to

determine that the user is performing a hand gesture with the glove;

based on the hand gesture,

apply, via the force-feedback mechanism, a force upon the hand; and

control a surgical instrument of the robotic system.

9. The robotic system of claim 8 , wherein the hand gesture is a hand movement, wherein the instructions to control the surgical instrument comprises instructions to move the surgical instrument to mimic the hand movement.

10. The robotic system of claim 8 , wherein the applied force corresponds to a physical representation of a virtual object being held by the hand of the user.

11. The robotic system of claim 10 , wherein the memory has further instructions to apply, via a haptic feedback mechanism of the glove, a plurality of forces upon the hand of the user that represent a surface and texture of the physical representation of the virtual object.

12. The robotic system of claim 10 , wherein the performed hand gesture manipulates the virtual object, wherein the surgical instrument is controlled according to the manipulated virtual object.

13. The robotic system of claim 10 , wherein the virtual object has a location within a physical space that is proximate to a palmar side of the glove and is stationary with respect to the glove such that the virtual object mirrors movements of the glove within the physical space.

14. The robotic system of claim 8 , wherein the hand gesture is a squeezing motion, wherein the memory has further instructions to:

determine that the user performs a releasing motion; and

cease to 1) apply the force upon the hand and 2) control the surgical instrument, responsive to the user performing the releasing motion.

15. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having stored therein instructions which when executed by a processor of a surgical system, causes the surgical system to:

determine that a user is performing a hand gesture with a glove that is worn on a hand of the user, the glove having a force-feedback mechanism;

based on the hand gesture,

apply, via the force-feedback mechanism, a force upon the hand; and

control a surgical instrument of the robotic system.

16. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the hand gesture is a hand movement, wherein the instructions to control the surgical instrument comprises instructions to move the surgical instrument to mimic the hand movement.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the applied force corresponds to a physical representation of a virtual object being held by the hand of the user.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17 has further instructions to apply, via a haptic feedback mechanism of the glove, a plurality of forces upon the hand of the user that represent a surface and texture of the physical representation of the virtual object.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the performed hand gesture manipulates the virtual object, wherein the surgical instrument is controlled according to the manipulated virtual object.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the virtual object has a location within a physical space that is proximate to a palmar side of the glove and is stationary with respect to the glove such that the virtual object mirrors movements of the glove within the physical space.

21. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the hand gesture is a squeezing motion, wherein the medium has further instructions to:

determine that the user performs a releasing motion; and

cease to 1) apply the force upon the hand and 2) control the surgical instrument, responsive to the user performing the releasing motion.