Affiliations: [a] Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tohoku
University, Sendai, Japan | [b] Department of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai,
Japan | Université Laval, Canada | Tohoku University, Japan
Correspondence:
[*]
Corresponding author: Daisuke Tsuchimi, Department of Biomedical
Engineering, Tohoku University, Aoba 6-6-04, Sendai 980-8579, Japan. E-mail:
d.tsuchimi@rose.mech.tohoku.ac.jp
Abstract: A palpation is a useful method to detect cancer and to evaluate skin
or under skin conditions. However, the palpation is a skillful method. Doctor's
mental and physical conditions affect diagnoses by the palpation. Additionally,
it is hard to share the feeling of palpation with other people because
palpation is subjective skill. Therefore, the development of the sensor that
can measure the skin and under skin condition of the body like softness as a
doctor's palpation is demanded. In this paper, we focus on a haptic perception
mechanism of human for evaluating the softness. Six objects are made to conduct
sensory tests. The silicone rubber part of the objects has two kinds of
thickness and three kinds of Young's modulus. Relationships between physical
properties of evaluated objects and the softness that human feel in active
touch are investigated. After that, to control the contact condition between
objects and finger, a passive touch evaluation system is fabricated. Using the
system, relationships between the stiffness of the objects and evaluated haptic
softness are investigated under passive touch condition.
