A Breakthrough in Tumor Localization: Combining Tactile Sensing and Ultrasound to Improve Tumor Localization in Robotics-Assisted Minimally Invasive Surgery

Robotics-assisted minimally invasive surgery (RAMIS) helps surgeons to avoid manually palpating organs to locate subsurface tumors. One solution has been to use ultrasound, but it is not always reliable. Tactile sensing, however, has the potential to augment ultrasound to improve tumor localization, but there are no existing RAMIS instruments that employ both modalities.