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Current teleoperated surgical robots do not provide surgeons with haptic feedback, due in part to the safety risks associated with grounded kinesthetic forces. Ungrounded cutaneous feedback provides an elegant and inherently stable way to refer haptic feedback to the surgeon in such situations. Choosing the most appropriate display, however, is challenging given the substantial number of unique cutaneous displays presented in the literature. In this work, we demonstrate how measuring the space of tactile sensations that a device can create can be employed to objectively compare different cutaneous displays for a specific task. We built four cutaneous displays and compared their ability to render sensations measured while pinching four disparate materials with a biomimetic tactile sensor. As predicted, quantitative tactile rendering errors varied significantly across devices and materials. The results of this comparison can be used to design better cutaneous displays for pinching palpation in robotic surgery. Furthermore, the proposed approach could provide a useful tool for evaluating novel cutaneous devices for various other tactile tasks, providing an objective framework to supplement and guide future human subject studies

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A clinically relevant magneto-optical technique (fd-FRS, frequency-domain Faraday rotation spectroscopy) for characterizing proteins using antibody-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) is demonstrated. This technique distinguishes between the Faraday rotation of the solvent, iron oxide core, and functionalization layers of polyethylene glycol polymers (spacer) and model antibody-antigen complexes (anti-BSA/BSA, bovine serum albumin). A detection sensitivity of ≈10 pg mL and broad detection range of 10 pg mL ≲ c ≲ 100 µg mL are observed. Combining this technique with predictive analyte binding models quantifies (within an order of magnitude) the number of active binding sites on functionalized MNPs. Comparative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) studies are conducted, reproducing the manufacturer advertised BSA ELISA detection limits from 1 ng mL ≲ c ≲ 500 ng mL . In addition to the increased sensitivity, broader detection range, and similar specificity, fd-FRS can be conducted in less than ≈30 min, compared to ≈4 h with ELISA. Thus, fd-FRS is shown to be a sensitive optical technique with potential to become an efficient diagnostic in the chemical and biomolecular sciences.

No abstract