How low latency and seamless integration can enhance robotic surgery outcomes.
By Louay Abdelkader and Winston Leung, QNX
The future of surgery is robotic, and in that future, trust is built one surgery and one millisecond at a time. [Photo by MedicalWorks via Stock.Adobe.com]
A QNX study underscores this shift, finding 77% of technology leaders now trust robotics to “perform essential workplace functions,” with advancements in safety and risk mitigation (42%) and proven reliability and performance (40%) noted as the two biggest factors that influence this trust. These are not just abstract metrics, but the foundations of surgical success.
Milliseconds matter
Picture a robot end-effector navigating around a cluster of vital nerves. A delay of 100 milliseconds — less than the blink of an eye — can result in irreversible damage. This is the millisecond challenge: to engineer systems that respond in real time, with unwavering precision, under the most demanding of conditions.
To meet this challenge, surgical robotics must be tested under dynamic, real-world scenarios that simulate patient movement and tool repositioning, ensuring the system can adapt and respond without hesitation. Every subsystem, from camera feeds to haptic responses, must be tuned for near-instantaneous performance, allowing surgeons to operate with confidence and accuracy.
Seamless hardware-software synchronization
Precision in robotic surgery is not just about speed. It’s about synchronization. Hardware and software must operate in perfect harmony to deliver consistent, reliable outcomes. Integrated GPUs play a pivotal role, enabling real-time processing of ultra-high-definition 3D visuals, clarity that is essential for surgeons performing intricate procedures.
Equally important is seamless data flow between subsystems. When haptic and visual systems are optimized for high-throughput, they deliver immediate feedback. This seamless integration is what transforms robotic systems from tools into trusted surgical partners.
The importance of low latency and jitter
Latency (the delay between input and response) and jitter (the variability in that delay) are critical factors in surgical robotics. A system that responds quickly but inconsistently can be just as dangerous as a slow one.
To ensure precision and responsiveness, systems must maintain ultra-low latency and jitter. This requires highly efficient interrupt handling mechanisms to mitigate timing-related risks and ensure real-time performance. Signals such as tool position changes or sensor alerts should be processed with the highest urgency. Implementing time-triggered task scheduling further reduces jitter, ensuring that all feedback loops operate with predictable timing and consistency.
These technical refinements are necessary to bolstering patient trust. As the QNX study reveals, while 70% of technology executives are comfortable working alongside robots, only 51% trust them with medical procedures. Bridging this gap will require not only technological advancements but also demonstrable consistency in real-world applications.
RTOS: the heartbeat of surgical robotics
Behind the scenes, the real-time operating system (RTOS) serves as the conductor of this orchestra, coordinating the interactions between sensors, actuators, and surgical interfaces, ensuring that every component performs with microsecond-level precision.
An RTOS like QNX OS 8.0 isn’t just about managing different tasks in parallel, but ensuring every task is executed with the utmost precision, accuracy, and speed. The RTOS must be finely tuned to work in harmony with the hardware and end user applications, handling multiple high-priority tasks simultaneously with minimal latency and jitter.
Scalability and reliability
As surgical robotics evolves, systems must be designed not just for today’s challenges but for tomorrow’s innovations. Scalability and reliability are key. Modular system design allows for seamless upgrades as new technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning become viable for surgical applications.
Reliability also demands redundancy at the software architecture level. Microkernel designs like QNX SDP 8.0 promote this through strong modularity and freedom from interference (FFI), ensuring that each component operates in isolation from others. Services such as device drivers or networks stacks run in user space with strict boundaries enforced by the kernel. If one fails, it can be restarted independently without compromising the entire system.
When it comes to reliability in surgical robotics, manufacturers need a trusted and proven solution that combines high-performance real-time behavior with rigorous safety standards and comprehensive security features. Choosing the right technology will allow us to revolutionize the field of robot-assisted surgeries, setting new standards for the future of healthcare.
In the operating room, every millisecond counts. Meeting this challenge requires more than fast processors. It demands holistic system design where every component is optimized for speed, precision, and reliability. By embracing low-latency architectures, seamless integration, and robust RTOS platforms, we can equip surgeons with tools that not only extend their capabilities but also improve patient outcomes.
Winston Leung [Photo courtesy of QNX]
Winston Leung is a senior manager at QNX with over a decade of experience advancing technology and driving business development in public and private sectors across North America and Asia. Winston delivers strategies and thought leadership in functional safety, real-time performance, and reliability for embedded systems across robotics, medical, and transportation sectors.
Louay Abdelkader [Photo courtesy of QNX]
Read more MDO Contributions and learn how to submit your own
The opinions expressed in this blog post are the author’s only and do not necessarily reflect those of Medical Design & Outsourcing or its employees.
