Tanaka Yoshihiro, Fukuda Tomohiro, Fujiwara Michitaka, Sano Akihito
Department of Engineering Physics, Electronics and Mechanics, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Gokiso-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya, 466-8555, Japan,
Int J Comput Assist Radiol Surg. 2015 Feb;10(2):183-93. doi: 10.1007/s11548-014-1067-z. Epub 2014 May 7.
Laparoscopic surgery limits a surgeon's tactile sense. A tactile sensor could allow real-time tumor detection in laparoscopic surgery through lump inspection. This study was aimed at developing a simple and biocompatible tactile sensor for laparoscopic surgery. The proposed tactile sensor has a forceps-like shape, has no electrical elements in the tissue contact area, and can be sterilized and cleaned.
We developed a tactile sensor using acoustic reflection. It is composed of a handle with a speaker and a microphone, an aluminum tube, and a sensor tip with a deformable elastic cavity. The acoustic wave in the tube is the superposition of the input wave and two waves reflected at the closed edge and the projection generated by deformation due to contact with an object. By measuring the acoustic wave in the tube, information of the deformation is derived.
The sensor is modeled, and the output is analyzed to determine design parameters of the sensor. Then, a prototype of the sensor is assembled. Fundamental experiments show that the sensor output increases with increasing normal deformation. Moreover, experiments using a phantom of the stomach wall with a 0-IIc type tumor (most common early stage gastric cancer) show that large sensor output is obtained for the lump when the sensor is moved across the back surface of the tumor.
The theoretical and experimental results show that the sensor is sensitive to the deformation due to contact with an object and has the potential to detect a lump in laparoscopic surgery.
腹腔镜手术限制了外科医生的触觉。触觉传感器可通过肿块检查在腹腔镜手术中实现实时肿瘤检测。本研究旨在开发一种用于腹腔镜手术的简单且生物相容性良好的触觉传感器。所提出的触觉传感器具有镊子状外形，在组织接触区域没有电气元件，并且可以进行消毒和清洁。
我们开发了一种利用声反射的触觉传感器。它由一个带有扬声器和麦克风的手柄、一根铝管以及一个带有可变形弹性腔的传感器尖端组成。管内的声波是输入波与在封闭边缘反射的两个波以及因与物体接触而产生变形所产生的投影波的叠加。通过测量管内的声波，可得出变形信息。
对传感器进行建模，并对输出进行分析以确定传感器的设计参数。然后，组装传感器原型。基础实验表明，传感器输出随法向变形的增加而增大。此外，使用带有0-IIc型肿瘤（最常见的早期胃癌）的胃壁模型进行的实验表明，当传感器在肿瘤背面移动时，对于肿块可获得较大的传感器输出。
理论和实验结果表明，该传感器对与物体接触引起的变形敏感，具有在腹腔镜手术中检测肿块的潜力。
