%0 Journal Article
	%A M. Ramezanifard and  J. Dargahi and  S. Najarian and  N. Narayanan
	%D 2009
	%J International Journal of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering
	%B World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
	%I Open Science Index 30, 2009
	%T Design, Modeling and Fabrication of a Tactile Sensor and Display System for Application in Laparoscopic Surgery
	%U https://publications.waset.org/pdf/13322
	%V 30
	%X One of the major disadvantages of the minimally
invasive surgery (MIS) is the lack of tactile feedback to the surgeon.
In order to identify and avoid any damage to the grasped complex
tissue by endoscopic graspers, it is important to measure the local
softness of tissue during MIS. One way to display the measured
softness to the surgeon is a graphical method. In this paper, a new
tactile sensor has been reported. The tactile sensor consists of an
array of four softness sensors, which are integrated into the jaws of a
modified commercial endoscopic grasper. Each individual softness
sensor consists of two piezoelectric polymer Polyvinylidene Fluoride
(PVDF) films, which are positioned below a rigid and a compliant
cylinder. The compliant cylinder is fabricated using a micro molding
technique. The combination of output voltages from PVDF films is
used to determine the softness of the grasped object. The theoretical
analysis of the sensor is also presented.
A method has been developed with the aim of reproducing the
tactile softness to the surgeon by using a graphical method. In this
approach, the proposed system, including the interfacing and the data
acquisition card, receives signals from the array of softness sensors.
After the signals are processed, the tactile information is displayed
by means of a color coding method. It is shown that the degrees of
softness of the grasped objects/tissues can be visually differentiated
and displayed on a monitor.
	%P 695 - 699