An inspection continuum robot with tactile sensor based on electrical impedance tomography for exploration and navigation in unknown environment

Wang, Yaming; Ju, Feng; Yun, Yahui; Yao, Jiafeng; Wang, Yaoyao; Guo, Hao; Chen, Bai

doi:10.1108/ir-06-2019-0132

Cited by 10 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Upon contact with humans, they are able to sense the contact as well as absorb the shock from the collision. A soft dome structure was introduced in [ 69 , 70 ] to detect an object in front of a robot. This structure contains an array of piezoresistive tactile sensors, which upon contact change their resistance.…”

Section: Classificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This sensor can be seen in Figure 8 c. The proposed method uses the electrical impedance tomography principle to detect the contact position on the dome. Due to the shape of the dome, the contact location is positioned in 3D space; hence, the classical 2D image has to be converted to 3D, and the direction of the contact is in the form of a vector from the center of the sensor to the touch point [ 70 ]. A different approach was shown in [ 71 ], where a continuum robot for search and rescue was developed.…”

Section: Classificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sensing of Continuum Robots: A Review

Sincak,

Prada,

Miková

et al. 2024

Sensors

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The field of continuum robotics is rapidly developing. The development of new kinematic structures, locomotion principles and control strategies is driving the development of new types of sensors and sensing methodologies. The sensing in continuum robots can be divided into shape perception and environment perception. The environment perception is focusing on sensing the interactions between the robot and environment. These sensors are often embedded on an outer layer of the robots, so the interactions can be detected. The shape perception is sensing the robot’s shape using various principles. There are three main groups of sensors that use the properties of electricity, magnetism and optics to measure the shape of the continuum robots. The sensors based on measuring the properties of electricity are often based on measuring the electrical resistance or capacitance of the flexible sensor. Sensors based on magnetism use properties of permanent magnets or coils that are attached to the robot. Their magnetic field, flux or other properties are then tracked, and shape reconstruction can be performed. The last group of sensors is mostly based on leveraging the properties of traveling light through optical fibers. There are multiple objectives of this work. Objective number one is to clearly categorize the sensors and make a clear distinction between them. Objective number two is to determine the trend and progress of the sensors used in continuum robotics. And finally, the third objective is to define the challenges that the researchers are currently facing. The challenges of sensing the shape or the interaction with the environment of continuum robots are currently in the miniaturization of existing sensors and the development of novel sensing methods.

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Section: Classificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Classificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensing of Continuum Robots: A Review

Sincak,

Prada,

Miková

et al. 2024

Sensors

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show abstract

“…For comprehensive review on the topic, the reader is referred to Rossa and Tavakoli ( 2017 ). In these systems, a robotic system acts as a needle holder that can move the needle laterally or rotate it at its base to assist with insertion (Schneider et al, 2004 ; Wei et al, 2004 ; Fichtinger et al, 2008 ; Salcudean et al, 2008 ; Bassan et al, 2009 ; Kobayashi et al, 2009 ; Adebar et al, 2011 ; Hungr et al, 2012 ; Long et al, 2012 ; Bebek et al, 2013 ; Hendrick et al, 2015 ; Plitea et al, 2015 ; Vitrani et al, 2016 ; Mascarenhas et al, 2017 ; Rossa and Tavakoli, 2017 ; Wang et al, 2019 ; Fanhao et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrical Impedance Tomography for Robot-Aided Internal Radiation Therapy

Tan

Rossa

2021

Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.

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High dose rate brachytherapy (HDR) is an internal based radiation treatment for prostate cancer. The treatment can deliver radiation to the site of dominant tumor growth within the prostate. Imaging methods to delineate the dominant tumor are imperative to ensure the maximum success of HDR. This paper investigates the feasibility of using electrical impedance tomography (EIT) as the main imaging modality during robot-aided internal radiation therapy. A procedure utilizing brachytherapy needles in order to perform EIT for the purpose of robot-aided prostate cancer imaging is proposed. It is known that cancerous tissue exhibits different conductivity than healthy tissue. Using this information, it is hypothesized that a conductivity map of the tissue can be used to locate and delineate cancerous nodules via EIT. Multiple experiments were conducted using eight brachytherapy needle electrodes. Observations indicate that the imaging procedure is able to observe differences in tissue conductivity in a setting that approximates transperineal HDR and confirm that brachytherapy needles can be used as electrodes for this purpose. The needles can access the tissue at a specific depth that traditional EIT surface electrodes cannot. The results indicate the feasibility of using brachytherapy needles for EIT for the purpose internal radiation therapy.

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Dynamic Tactile Synthetic Tissue: from Soft Robotics to Hybrid Surgical Simulators

Thurner,

Maier,

Kaltenbrunner

et al. 2024

Advanced Intelligent Systems

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Surgical simulators are valuable educational tools for physicians, enhancing their proficiency and improving patient safety. However, they typically still suffer from a lack of realism as they do not emulate dynamic tissue biomechanics haptically and fail to convincingly mimic real‐time physiological reactions. This study presents a dynamic tactile synthetic tissue, integrating both sensory and actuatory capabilities within a fully soft unit, as a core component for soft robotics and future hybrid surgical simulators utilizing dynamic physical phantoms. The adaptive surface of the tissue replica, actuated via hydraulics, is assessed by an embedded carbon black silicone sensor layer using electrical impedance tomography to determine internally or externally induced deformations. The integrated fluid chambers enable pressure and force measurements. The combination of these principles enables real‐time tissue feedback as well as closed loop operation, allowing optimal interaction with the environment. Based on the concepts of soft robotics, such artificial tissues find broad applicability, demonstrated via a soft gripper and surgical simulation applications including a dynamic, artificial brain phantom as well as a synthetic, beating heart. These advancements pave the way toward enhanced realism in surgical simulators including reliable performance evaluation and bear the potential to transform the future of surgical training methodologies.

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An inspection continuum robot with tactile sensor based on electrical impedance tomography for exploration and navigation in unknown environment

Cited by 10 publications

References 25 publications

Sensing of Continuum Robots: A Review

Sensing of Continuum Robots: A Review

Electrical Impedance Tomography for Robot-Aided Internal Radiation Therapy

Dynamic Tactile Synthetic Tissue: from Soft Robotics to Hybrid Surgical Simulators

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