Softness sensing probe with multiple acoustic paths for laparoscopic surgery.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Surgical Technology
• Gynecological Surgery

Background:

• Laparoscopic surgery limits surgeons' tactile feedback, posing challenges in tissue differentiation.
• Accurate identification of endometriosis lesions is crucial for effective surgical intervention and minimizing collateral damage.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a tactile softness sensing probe for enhanced endometriosis detection during laparoscopic procedures.
• To enable precise identification of lesion boundaries for optimized surgical cutting lines.

Main Methods:

• An acoustic reflection-based sensing probe with three force-sensing points was developed.
• Sensor posture compensation and theoretical analysis were employed to verify the sensing principle.
• Fundamental experiments and simulated evaluations were conducted to create and test an estimation model.

Main Results:

• The probe accurately estimated tissue softness with a root-mean-square error of 31.5 kPa, accounting for probe posture variations.
• In simulated laparoscopic environments, the sensor successfully discriminated between normal and lesioned uterine tissue samples.
• Six surgeons confirmed the significant discriminative capability of the softness estimation.

Conclusions:

• The developed softness sensing probe effectively estimates tissue properties while compensating for sensor posture.
• The probe demonstrated the ability to differentiate between normal and lesioned uterine tissues, indicating potential for intraoperative boundary identification in endometriosis surgery.