Development of a novel surgical support instrument and virtual system incorporating new tactile sensor technology

Surgical practice would be significantly enhanced with robotic systems incorporating tactile sensors. Current tactile sensor technology consists mainly of strain gauge elements having a limited bandwidth. A novel tactile sensor system, has been developed using a piezoelectric transducer(PZT), to simulate the properties of the human hand for use as a surgical support instrument and a palpation probe. Visualization of tactile information as an audio signal is provided, representing tissue properties in terms of an amplitude and frequency modulated signal. Representative data measured from pig brain, lung, pancreas, tongue and liver show that the changes in frequency corresponds to tissues stiffness and contact pressure. The technology developed in this new surgical support system has potential applications in virtual systems or robotic tele-medical care.