#Haptic work station.
Haptic Dental station: the physical set-up of the devices
The clinicians also outlined their view of what a model of a haptic work station should include. They gave specific answers related to a dental station setup and also relating this setup to operating positions and actions they take when drilling a cavity.
Dental station setup
Two aspects of the ergonomics of dental equipment design are discussed: the need to enable operators to perform dental procedures without compromising their preferred posture and the need to operate at a specific point in space where they feel they have the best control of their fingers. Two of the clinicians were concerned about the position of the operator. Natural operating procedure should be taken into consideration.
Hand-held haptic tool Three kinds of instruments were specified. These are i) Handpiece ii) Dental Probe iii) Mirror. The handheld haptic device may need to include these tools. The clinicians suggested that operators have to have a natural feel of the tools they are holding. They also asked whether the haptic device would have a finger-rest on which the operators can lay their finger. This apparently is vital so that the operator can have the best control for his/her fingers when preparing a cavity.
Physical workspace The clinicians explained that typically, operators use two hands: one to hold the mirror and another to hold either a probe or a handpiece. The smallest workspace requirement would realistically be a real sized oral cavity. The handheld tools would operate on a real-sized tooth and the physical movement between two tools would be constrained within this small workspace. The researcher informed the clinicians that this may not be possible due to the limitations of the haptic device which is intended for this project. They thought that some teaching could be achieved and clinical skills could be gained even though the haptics environment might not be able to meet all their requirements.
Collocation The researcher showed a haptic desktop setup, with the clinicians, developed at Aristotle University, Greece. The desktop setup features a haptic device sitting on a table where operators look at the screen and hold a haptic device in a form of a stylus. In this setup, operators do not have a finger-rest and they have to operate as if the hand is suspended in the air. The focus of the operators’ attention is on the screen while possibly ignoring their hand movements. The clinicians commented on this kind of setup and again mentioned the importance of proper posture and a finger rest. They also mentioned the importance of operators’ looking down on a patient’s face and the possibility of mimicking the haptic operation with that of a ‘Phantom head’ (a mannequin head which has rubber cheeks and porcelain/plastic teeth embedded in a jaw).
Head-movement and vision The clinicians provided information about the operating distances. An operator works at a distance of at least 12 to 15 inches away from the patient’s head. Typically, operators use loupes, a type of wearable lens, which magnifies the size of the tooth at least two to three times its actual size depending on the distance of the operator’s head to the patient’s head. The researcher then informed the clinicians that the team could possibly track the head movements of the operator which may simulate the magnification and the view depending on which angle the operator wants to focus on within the mouth. The clinicians liked this possibility.