Polymer fiber Bragg grating force sensors for minimally invasive surgical devices

A feasibility study on using polymer fiber Bragg sensors (PFBG) for providing force feedback to minimally invasive surgical devices is carried out. For this purpose a 3 mm long PFBG is fabricated and characterized for strain and temperature sensitivities. The PFBG sensor is then integrated onto a commercial laparoscopic clip applicator which is used as a proof of concept device. The force characterization of the clip applicator is carried out, with a replica setup which simulates the clip forming process of the device. An original clip is then formed without and with synthetic tissue samples of different hardness. The replica device force profile and original clip forming force profile follows the same pattern and thus the calibration data can be used to calculate the original force exerting on the tissues which can help in optimizing the clip formation process or can be used for providing force feedback capability to the device.