Transparent Pneumatic Tactile Sensors for Soft Biomedical Robotics.

Journal: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)
PMID: 37420836

Abstract

Palpation is a simple but effective method to distinguish tumors from healthy tissues. The development of miniaturized tactile sensors embedded on endoscopic or robotic devices is key to achieving precise palpation diagnosis and subsequent timely treatment. This paper reports on the fabrication and characterization of a novel tactile sensor with mechanical flexibility and optical transparency that can be easily mounted on soft surgical endoscopes and robotics. By utilizing the pneumatic sensing mechanism, the sensor offers a high sensitivity of 1.25 mbar and negligible hysteresis, enabling the detection of phantom tissues with different stiffnesses ranging from 0 to 2.5 MPa. Our configuration, combining pneumatic sensing and hydraulic actuating, also eliminates electrical wiring from the functional elements located at the robot end-effector, thereby enhancing the system safety. The optical transparency path in the sensors together with its mechanical sensing capability open interesting possibilities in the early detection of solid tumor as well as in the development of all-in-one soft surgical robots that can perform visual/mechanical feedback and optical therapy.

Authors

  • Sinuo Zhao
    School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, UNSW Sydney, Kensington Campus, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
  • Chi Cong Nguyen
    Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia.
  • Trung Thien Hoang
    Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
  • Thanh Nho Do
    Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
  • Hoang-Phuong Phan
    School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.

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