Acoustic Wave Microsensor Array for Tactile Sensing

Tactile perception is a critical requirement for surgery procedures such as minimally invasive surgery (MIS). In this study, an acoustic wave tactile sensor array for force and shear modulus sensing was investigated. This device can sense the magnitude of the applied force change and the tissue’s shear modulus change by means of detecting an electrical impedance change. The 6×6 array with a pitch of 1.3 mm was fabricated using a face-shear mode PMN-PT piezoelectric resonator which is highly sensitive to acoustic impedance load. External forces (0–5 N) were applied to the sensor and the electric impedance shift was measured. The sensitivity was found to be 56.87 Ohm/N. Imaging test results for different force and load stiffnesses were also obtained. The proposed tactile sensing technique is also favorable for a number of other biomedical applications including haptic sensors for the robotic surgery and artificial skin or fingers.