Tactile sensor system for detection of prostate cancer and hypertrophy

This paper is a study on the optimum design of a palpation sensor for detecting prostatic cancer and hypertrophy. The receptor of the sensor is a polyvinylidene fluoride(PVDF) film placed on the surface of the matrix rubber base. The sensor is pressed against the prostate gland and driven sinusoidally, with a constant amplitude. The voltage signal from the PVDF film is integrated over the sampling period and is used as the output of the sensor for evaluating the stiffness of the pressed prostate gland. The output strength of the sensor is dependent on the relative stiffness of the sensor base rubber to the stiffness of the object prostate gland. Thus, the stiffness of the base rubber is of great importance to make the sensor output maximum and achieve the best discrimination of the normality and abnormality of the organ. The FEM analysis is introduced for the optimum design of sensor, and the best fit stiffness of the matrix rubber base is determined. Verification test is also carried out and good agreement between the analysis and the experimental results is confirmed.