A new type of surgical forceps integrated with three-axial force sensor for minimally invasive robotic surgery

In this paper, a novel concept of surgical forceps integrated with three-axial force sensor is presented. The forceps include two surgical grippers that measure three-axial force, respectively. Using capacitive-type force sensing method, the surgical gripper has the force sensing capability with preserving its original shape and its minimization. And, the force sensor is placed on the distal region of the surgical gripper's tip, therefore, it is possible to detect the palpation at backside or edge of the gripper. In this study, the principle of the three-axial force sensing is presented, and the design and realization of the forceps are conducted.