title: Wheel/tissue force interaction: a new concept for soft tissue diagnosis during MIS.
abstract: This paper describes a feasibility study of a novel force sensor that can be used to localise tissue abnormalities and provide tactile feedback to the surgeon during minimally invasive surgery. The proposed sensor makes use of an air-supported rigid ball mounted at the end of a tubular shaft to indent the tissue under investigation. Variations in tissue stiffness which cause changes in position of the ball are measured by using an optical sensing scheme. The sensor enables rapid acquisition of tactile information over large areas of soft tissue. Laboratory experiments were conducted to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed sensor system. The outcome of the conducted experiments shows similarity to the results from a cylindrical wheel-based force sensor [1] which are shown here for comparative purposes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, King's College London, Strand, London WC2R2LS, UK. dinusha.zbyszewski@kcl.ac.uk
authors.forename: Dinusha
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zbyszewski
authors.forename: Hongbin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Pinyo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Puangmali
authors.forename: Kaspar
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Althoefer
authors.forename: Catarina S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Nunes
authors.forename: Lakmal D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Seneviratne
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Challacombe
authors.forename: Declan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: Prokar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dasgupta
mesh_terms: D003238:Connective Tissue / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D006245:Hardness Tests / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D019060:Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity