A portable in-vivo device of friction force and torque measurement for vascular surgery

In-vivo measurement of force signals between surgical tool and human tissues is an important research topic in high-fidelity surgical simulations. In this paper, we introduce a portable device for real-time in-vivo measurement of friction force and torque during vascular surgery operations. To measure multi-region contacts between the guide wire and the vascular wall, two portable sensor modules are mounted on surgeon's fingertip of thumb and index finger. Based on relative motion between an inner shaft and an outer socket, the sensor module can detect in real-time one-dimensional pushing or retracting resistance force and one-dimensional twisting resistance torque between the guide wire and the vascular wall. The sensor module is based on a modular design of three off-the-shelf one-dimensional force sensors, which provides a flexible solution to realize compact design. Preliminary experiments indicate the sensor modules can provide a portable solution for real-time measuring the force and torque signals during vascular surgery operations.