Measurement system for quantitative analysis of the surgical needle insertion force in 3D printed phantoms

In the context of surgical planning and training, it is necessary to give surgeons a time and cost effective learning tool that eliminates the need for biological tissues or in-vivo procedures unless strictly required. Recent developments in 3D printing technology and materials allow the fabrication of complex geometries and multi-material pieces that do not require any additional assembly, both suitable properties for the manufacturing of biomedical phantoms. This work is a followup to previous experimentation carried out at the Material Mechanics Laboratory (Mate-lab) of the University of Pavia, aimed at evaluating the puncture resistance of 3D printed samples: thus far, only vertical perforation performance was tested, by means of an MTS Insight machine. In this work, a setup for quantitative insertion force measurement during suturing procedures is presented. Piezoresistive force sensors are attached to an Arduino® board's analog input pins, which in turn feeds the acquired data into a CSV file by means of a MATLAB® script. The sensors and cables are secured to the user's gloves by means of glue and flexible 3D printed clamps. Future development for potential in-vivo applications are also described in the conclusion.

Sistema di misura per analisi quantitativa della forza d'inserimento di un ago chirurgico in campioni stampati in 3D