Smart laparoscopic grasper integrated with fiber Bragg grating based tactile sensor for real‐time force feedback

Abstract

Minimally invasive surgery, such as laparoscopic surgery, has developed rapidly due to its small wound, less bleeding and quick recovery. However, a lack of force feedback, which leads to tissue damage, is still unsolved. Many sensors have been used to offer force feedback but still limited by their large size, low security and high complexity. Based on the advantages of small size, high sensitivity and immunity to electromagnetic interferences, we propose a tactile sensor integrated with fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) at the tip of laparoscopic grasper to offer real‐time force feedback in the laparoscopic surgery. The tactile sensor shows a force sensitivity of 0.076 nm/N with a repeatable accuracy of 0.118 N. A bench test is conducted in a laparoscopic training box to verify its feasibility. Test results illustrate that gripping force exerted on the laparoscopic grasper in terms of peak and standard deviation values reduce significantly for the novice subjects with force feedback compared to those without force feedback. The proposed sensor integrated at the tip of the laparoscopic grasper demonstrates a better control of the gripping force among the novice surgeons and indicates that the smart grasper can help surgeons achieve precise gripping force to reduce unnecessary tissue trauma.

Progress in Control-Actuation Robotic System for Gastrointestinal NOTES Development

“…Force feedback can enable the surgeon to have a more natural interaction between surgical tools and tissue, as normally experienced during minimally invasive surgery [ 34 ]. Grippers with force-sensing functions based on the tactile sensing principle have been developed and tested with a sponge [ 35 ] and a laparoscopic training box [ 36 ]. Instruments specialized for certain operations in NOTES, such as suturing devices and grippers, will be developed [ 37 ].…”

An intelligent grasper to provide real-time force feedback to shorten the learning curve in laparoscopic training

“…1 ) includes a light source, an internal camera for imaging and a display screen for operation on the computer. Different from traditional laparoscopic training box, we used a previously designed smart laparoscopic grasper with fiber Bragg grating sensor during training [ 29 ]. The intelligent laparoscopic grasper is used to clamp the specific objects and the real-time force information obtained by the fiber Bragg grating sensor was demodulated by an optical spectrometer (I-MON 51 USB, Ibsen Photonics, Denmark).…”

“…In our previous study, we designed an intelligent laparoscopic grasper integrated with an FBG-based tactile sensor, which can provide real-time force feedback to the novice operators and has shown excellent performance in the laparoscopic training box [ 29 ]. As a continuation of this work, we utilized the laparoscopic grasper to provide real-time force feedback to the trainers during laparoscopic training, allowing for quantification of force information obtained during training.…”

Flexible Micro-Nano Fiber Sensors for Tactile Sensing

“…In recent years, emerging tactile sensing devices inspired by biological touch have mimicked the sensing function of biological nerves. Tactile sensors that measure external mechanical forces, pressure, or vibration at a surface have been widely used in industrial [5], medical [6], and consumer applications [7].…”