A Variable Stiffness Robotic Probe for Soft Tissue Palpation
A Variable Stiffness Robotic Probe for Soft Tissue Palpation
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DOI：
10.1109/lra.2018.2793961
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发表时间：
2018-04-01
影响因子：
5.2
通讯作者：
Nanayakkara, Thrishantha
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Herzig, Nicolas;Maiolino, Perla;Nanayakkara, Thrishantha
在腹部触诊诊断期间，执业医师将改变他们的手指的硬度，以便改进对软组织中的硬结节或异常的检测，从而最大化经由肌腱的触觉信息增益。我们最近使用代表人类手指的可控刚度机器人探针的实验也证实，手指中的这种刚度控制可以提高检测软组织中硬结节的准确性。然而，对抗弹簧可变刚度接头所实现的有限刚度范围受到尺寸限制，使得其不适合从乳房到腹部检查的广泛的体格检查场景。在这封信中，我们提出了一种新的机器人探头的基础上，可变杠杆机构能够实现刚度范围从0.64到1.06 N.m/rad，扩展了约16倍的最大刚度和33倍的刚度范围。这封信提出了新的探头的力学模型，有限元模拟以及实验表征的刚度响应杠杆驱动。
During abdominal palpation diagnosis, a medical practitioner would change the stiffness of their fingers in order to improve the detection of hard nodules or abnormalities in soft tissue to maximize the haptic information gain via tendons. Our recent experiments using a controllable stiffness robotic probe representing a human finger also confirmed that such stiffness control in the finger can enhance the accuracy of detecting hard nodules in soft tissue. However, the limited range of stiffness achieved by the antagonistic springs variable stiffness joint subject to size constraints made it unsuitable for a wide range of physical examination scenarios spanning from breast to abdominal examination. In this letter, we present a new robotic probe based on a variable lever mechanism able to achieve stiffness ranging from 0.64 to 1.06 N.m/rad that extends the maximum stiffness by around 16 times and the stiffness range by 33 times. This letter presents the mechanical model of the novel probe, the finite element simulation as well as experimental characterization of the stiffness response for lever actuation.