Licensing opportunity
A miniature sensor developed by researchers at ETH Zurich can be used in force or tactile sensing in biomedical applications, such as minimally invasive surgery and medical robotics.
The force/torque sensor is much smaller in size than current systems and is based on a piezoelectric bi-morph. It is able to measure three components of force and two components of torque. The packaged sensor is 4 millimetres across and 5 millimetres high.
One example of the potential applications is in atrial fibrillation treatments, where the sensor can measure the direction and magnitude of the contact force, as well as the heart tissue thickness.
Multi-axial force/torque sensors are widely used in robotic systems for recording contact forces and measuring biomechanical parameters. There are numerous multi-axial force sensors in development using various sensing principles (piezo-resistive, strain-gauges, magnetic). But problems remain both with the size and the cost of these sensors.
The new triaxial force and biaxial torque sensor, developed for recording person to object contacts, is about a fifth the size of current force/torque sensors.
This sensor offers the advantages of an integrated force/torque sensor; miniaturisation, the sensor is hollow, allowing micro tools to pass through for diagnostic or surgical applications; and it is cost effective to manufacture.
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