How can a tumour be detected simply by feeling it? And how does it differ from the surrounding tissue? These questions were the focus of an exciting experiment at TU Ilmenau, in which surgeons from the Departments of Otorhinolaryngology and Neurosurgery put their sense of touch to the test using three test phantoms.
On 21 August 2024, researchers from the TU Ilmenau working group met with surgeons from the University Hospital to find out how precisely tumour replicas can be felt and their shape correctly reproduced. The aim was to analyse the haptic representation of tumour tissue and identify specific requirements for the design of the haptics.
In a first step, the surgeons, wearing their usual surgical gloves, blindly felt the tumour replicas on the phantoms. These results are later compared with the data recorded by the developed sensor technology.
The surgeons then explained their scanning procedure and assessed whether the test phantoms adequately simulated reality.
Based on this feedback, the biomechatronics engineers drew up a catalogue of requirements. This will be used to better adapt the sensor technology and the visualisation of the results to the surgeons’ needs.
The surgeons also had the opportunity to try out an initial simple test system and provide feedback on objectifying the subjective sense of touch.
The findings from this experiment will be incorporated and implemented in the further development of the system.
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