Computational optical palpation: A finiteelement approach to micro-scale tactile imaging using a compliant sensor

Philip Wijesinghe, David D. Sampson, Brendan F. Kennedy

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

30 Citations (Web of Science)

Abstract

High-resolution tactile imaging, superior to the sense of touch, has potential for future biomedical applications such as robotic surgery. In this paper, we propose a tactile imaging method, termed computational optical palpation, based on measuring the change in thickness of a thin, compliant layer with optical coherence tomography and calculating tactile stress using finiteelement analysis. We demonstrate our method on test targets and on freshly excised human breast fibroadenoma, demonstrating a resolution of up to 15-25 mm and a field of view of up to 7mm. Our method is open source and readily adaptable to other imaging modalities, such as ultrasonography and confocal microscopy.

Original languageEnglish
Article number20160878
JournalJournal of the Royal Society Interface
Volume14
Issue number128
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2017

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