Palpation system for minimally invasive localization of occult tumors

Minimally invasive surgery (MIS), while beneficial to patients, leads to new challenges for surgeons and prevents tumors from being localized using finger palpation. A Tactile Sensing System (TSS), consisting of a hand-held tactile sensing instrument (TSI) with a visualization interface, was developed to assist in intra-operative tumor localization. This paper presents the calibration of the TSI and its integration with a visualization interface that allows the forces applied to the tissue during palpation to be displayed. Experiments were conducted to assess the suitability of the TSS for the minimally invasive localization of phantom tumors in in vivo porcine lung during video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS).