Pinch Force Measurement in Minimally Invasive Surgery with Tactile Sensors

Abstract

This study focuses on the real-time measurement of the distributed pinch force in minimally invasive surgery with a piezoresistive tactile sensor. The measurement of the pinch force in distributed form is important because the conventional surgical tools have angular opening/closing mechanism, which causes non-uniform force distribution on the contacting sample. Additionally, the location and the magnitude of the equivalent pinch force is calculated. The grasping of the samples with homogenous and constant pinch force and the characterization of the samples with low elastic modulus can be carried out with tactile sensor included surgery tools. Apprentice surgeons can benefit the advantages of the thin film sensors in their training.