Soft Tactile Sensors With Inkjet-Printing Conductivity and Hydrogel Biocompatibility for Retractors in Cadaveric Surgical Trials

Abstract

A number of surgical tools are widely being used by clinicians and dentists for various purposes from simple exploration to complex oral surgeries. Most of such medical devices rely on direct vision or oral confirmation from the patients as a means of feedback to guide the clinician throughout the procedure. However, a tactile sense of palpation or device–tissue interactions as often required by clinicians would greatly assist in improving the control and safety with better precision thus increasing the efficiency of the whole practice. Tactile sensing is an emerging field in surgical robotics focused mainly on studying the interactions between the confined tissue environments and the instruments based on contact information. This paper explains the design, fabrication, and working of one such soft tactile sensor made using a flexible piezoresistive material and conductive ink, and then wrapped with a biocompatible hydrogel polymer matrix for safer human–tissue interactions. Successful cadaver experiments have shown that the system developed herein will be of effective in providing tactile sensing assistance to clinicians and dentists in the near future.