United States – A recently created soft robotic finger with enhanced sensitivity could someday assist your physician in conducting palpation examinations during a routine check-up, preliminary research reveals, as reported by HealthDay.
A New Frontier in Medical Palpation
Scientists said the finger could feel one’s pulse and even touch ‘abnormal lumps,’ according to details published in the Cell Reports Physical Science on October 10.
Addressing the developments in technologized communication, researchers said that such technology could assist in the earlier detection of diseases such as breast cancer.
It also may assist in calming some patients who feel uncomfortable with the thought of being touched and palpated by the doctor, they noted.
A Softer, Smarter Approach to Diagnosis
We also think that through further development to enhance its efficacy, such fingers can also perform as a Robodoctor in the hospitals of the future like a human doctor,”???, Sensing technologies researcher at University of Science and Technology of China, investigator Hongbo Wang concluded.
Robotic fingers have been developed before, but the previous models are far from being used in precise medical examinations, according to researchers.
From lighter, safer, and cheaper soft robotics, it has been possible to replicate most hand movements that human fingers make, though the sense of touch is still missing.
To mitigate this challenge, the researchers inserted comfortable fiber coils in a soft robotic finger that could track in real-time how far the digit flexes as it comes into contact with an object and the force that is exerted at the fingertip.
“Despite the remarkable progress in the last decade, most soft fingers presented in the literature still have substantial gaps compared to human hands,” the researchers wrote.
Key Advances in Sensory Technology
A feather was used to flick the soft finger while the finger was probed and tapped with a glass rod, and finally, it was bent several times. These tests showed that the device’s sensors were able to capture the type and intensity of force used in these instances correctly.
As a further test of its medical applicability, the team also placed the finger on a robotic arm and dragged it across a large silicone sheet on which three lumps had been placed.
The finger detected three lumps, positioned an artery on the wrist of one man, and measured his pulse.
“Humans can easily recognize the stiffness of diverse objects by simply pressing it with their finger,” the researchers write. “Similarly, since the [device] has the ability to sense both its bending deformation and the force at the fingertip, it can detect stiffness similar to our human hand by simply pressing an object.”
Toward a Robotic Hand for Hospitals
The team then decided to integrate more sensors that will make the finger even more flexible, an aspect that will be important for efficiency in medical examinations, as reported by HealthDay.
“We hope to develop an intelligent, dexterous hand, together with a sensorized artificial muscle-driven robotic arm, to mimic the unparalleled functions and fine manipulations of the human hands,” Wang said.