Zhuoqi Cheng, Jiale He, Pengjie Lin, Min He, Jing Guo, Xinwei Chen, Shuting Cai and Xiaoming Xiong
The purpose of this paper is to design a smart handheld device with force regulating function, which demonstrates the concept of patient-specialized tools.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to design a smart handheld device with force regulating function, which demonstrates the concept of patient-specialized tools.
Design/methodology/approach
This handheld device integrates an electrical bioimpedance (EBI) sensor for tissue measurement and a constant force regulation mechanism for ensuring stable tool–tissue contact. Particular focuses in this study are on the design of the constant force regulation mechanism whose design process is through genetic algorithm optimization and finite element simulation. In addition, the output force can be changed to the desired value by adjusting the cross-sectional area of the generated spring.
Findings
The following two specific applications based on ex vivo tissues are used for evaluating the designed device. One is in terms of safety of interaction with delicate tissue while the other is for compensating involuntary tissue motion. The results of both examples show that the handheld device is able to provide an output force with a small standard deviation.
Originality/value
In this paper, a handheld device with force regulation mechanism is designed for specific patients based on the genetic algorithm optimization and finite element simulation. The device can maintain a steady and safe interaction force during the EBI measurement on fragile tissues or moving tissues, to improve the sensing accuracy and to avoid tissue damage. Such functions of the proposed device are evaluated through a series of experiments and the device is demonstrated to be effective.