Future Smart Surgical Gloves

The intricate properties of the
fingertips have been mimicked &
recreated using semiconductor 
devicesin what researchers hope
will lead to the development of
 advanced surgical gloves. (Picture
from: http://www.sciencedaily.com/)

Now on surgical check procedure by scanning, no need to use a scan tool, simply by feeling the hands of the doctors. This is possible with the development of research futuristic surgical glove from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Northwestern University and Dalian University of Technology researchers that allows for doctors to do a ultrasound scan through their fingertips.

Scientists have created a device that can respond with high precision to the stresses and strains associated with finger touch and movement. To make this device, scientists must be able to replicate and recreate the intricate nature of the fingertips through the semiconductor device.

The team hope their research can support the creation of surgical gloves used for medical procedures such as ultrasound scanning and local ablation.

A newly-developed electronic finger cuff could lead to smarter surgical gloves that make performing surgery and scans as easy as pointing your finger. (Picture from: http://www.gizmag.com/)

"Imagine, the ability to sense the electrical properties of tissues and then raise it with the network of local ablation. Was all done with the fingertips using a smart surgical gloves," said Professor John Rogers, whose work was published in the journal Nanotechnology.

To create the device, a flexible polymer is repeatedly poured onto a model finger until it achieves the desired thickness. (Picture from: http://www.gizmag.com/)

The team believes that the new technology could open the door for surgical robots that can interact with the surrounding environment through touch.

The electronic circuit on the "skin" is made of patterns of gold conductive lines and ultrathin sheets of silicon, integrated onto a flexible polymer called polyimide. The sheet is then etched into an open mesh geometry and transferred to a thin sheet of silicone rubber moulded into the precise shape of a finger.

This electronic "skin", or finger cuff, was designed to measure the stresses and strains at the fingertip by measuring the change in capacitance -- the ability to store electrical charge -- of pairs of microelectrodes in the circuit. Applied forces decreased the spacing in the skin which, in turn, increased the capacitance.

The device is also equipped with fingertip sensors to measure movement and temperature. In addition, small-scale heating that act as actuators for ablation and other operations. *** [GIZMAG | SRI | PIKIRAN RAKYAT 30082012]

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