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Vision-based fluid-type tactile sensor for measurements on biological tissues

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Abstract

Hardness, dimensions, and location of biological tissues are important parameters for electronic palpation protocols with standardized performance. This study presents a novel fluid-type tactile sensor able to measure size and depth of heterogeneous substances in elastic bodies. The new sensor is very simple and can be easily fabricated. It consists of an image sensor, LED lights, and a touchpad filled with translucent water. The intensity field of the light traveling in the touchpad is analyzed to estimate the touchpad shape which conforms to the shape of an object in contact. The use of the new sensor for measuring size and depth of heterogeneous substances inside elastic bodies as well as hardness of elastic bodies is illustrated. Results obtained for breast cancer dummies demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by KNUT, the Encouragement Program for the Industries of Economic Cooperation Region (MOTIE KIAT), and Basic Science Research Program of NRF funded by the Ministry of Education (2017R1D1A1B04034391).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Korea National University of Transportation (KNUT), 50 Daehak-ro, Chungju-si, Chungbuk, 27469, Korea

    Youngwoo Kim

  2. Chubu University, Japan, Kasugai, Aichi, 487-8501, Japan

    Goro Obinata

  3. Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM), 330 Techno Sunhwan-ro, Yuga-myen, Dalseong-gun, Daegu, 42994, Korea

    Bongseop Kawk & Jiuk Jung

  4. Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH), 320 TechnoSunhwan-ro, Yuga-Myeon, Dalseong-gun, Daegu, 711-883, Korea

    Suwoong Lee

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  1. Youngwoo Kim
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  2. Goro Obinata
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  3. Bongseop Kawk
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  4. Jiuk Jung
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  5. Suwoong Lee
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Correspondence to Youngwoo Kim.

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Kim, Y., Obinata, G., Kawk, B. et al. Vision-based fluid-type tactile sensor for measurements on biological tissues. Med Biol Eng Comput 56, 297–305 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-017-1679-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-017-1679-x

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