Characterization of Catheter-Type Tactile Sensor Using Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) Film

To enable quantitative palpation in vivo, we previously developed a catheter-type tactile sensor with an outer diameter of 2 mm composed of a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) film for minimally invasive surgery. However, our previous studies did not evaluate the effect of the PVDF film shape on the sensor output. In this study, we fabricated three types of prototype sensors with different PVDF film shapes and sizes using a simple cutting method. One of the films had the same shape as that used in one of our previous studies. We also prepared two types of PVDF film with a wide base and a narrow tip because we assumed that the deformation of the sensor gradually decreases from the root to the tip, similar to the first mode of the natural frequency. We evaluated the frequency response of the proposed sensors by vibrating the sensor tip and compared the results with the theoretical values. It was confirmed that the sensor output increased with PVDF film size. Although this tendency was observed for both the measured and theoretical values, the measured values were smaller than the theoretical values. Moreover, the effect of film size was larger than that of film shape. Improvements in the sensor structure and the theoretical equation and better evaluation methods are required in order to optimize the film shape and size.