A new tactile array sensor for viscoelastic tissues with time-dependent behavior

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new tactile array sensor into the medical field to enhance current robotic minimally invasive surgery (RMIS) procedures that are still limited in scope and versatility. In this paper, a novel idea is proposed in which a tactile sensor array can measure rate of displacement in addition to force and displacement of any viscoelastic material during the course of a single touch. To verify this new array sensor, several experiments were conducted on a diversity of tissues from which it was concluded that this newly developed sensory offers definite and significant enhancements. Design/methodology/approach – The proposed array sensor is capable of extracting force, displacement and displacement rate in the course of a single touch on tissues. Several experiments have been conducted on different tissues and the array sensor to verify the concept and to verify the output of the sensor. Findings – It is shown that this new generation of sensors are required to distinguish the difference in hardness degrees of materials with viscoelastic behavior. Originality/value – In this paper, a new generation of tactile sensors is proposed that is capable of measuring indentation time in addition to force and displacement. This idea is completely unique and has not been submitted to any conference or journal.