An Abdominal Phantom With Tunable Stiffness Nodules and Force Sensing Capability for Palpation Training

Robotic phantoms enable advanced physical examination training before using human patients. In this article, we present an abdominal phantom for palpation with controllable stiffness liver nodules that can also sense forces. The coupled sensing and actuation approach is achieved by pneumatic control of positive-granular jammed tunable stiffness. Soft done the variation internal pressure under external This article makes original contributions to extend linear region neo-Hookean characteristic mechanical behavior 140% compared no-jamming conditions propose a method organ level as sensors estimate position force root-mean-square error 4% 6.5%, respectively. Compared conventional soft sensors, allows no interference simulated physiological when providing quantified feedback trainees, following current bare-hand protocols without need wear data gloves collect data.