Given the high regulatory standards that medical devices must adhere to, embedding smart manufacturing systems with force-sensing capabilities can help automate critical aspects of the production process.

Grippers embedded with FlexiForce touch sensors help to create a man-machine interface that captures tactile feedback during robotic surgery.

Thanks to innovative minds and developments in technology, robotic surgical systems continue to advance.

Advances in engineering have led to smarter medical devices, improved consistency among practitioners, and faster recovery time for patients. Force feedback is a crucial component in these advances and is made possible by thin, flexible, tactile force sensors.

A team of biomedical engineers at the Advanced Platform Technology Center (APTC) at the VA Medical Center in Cleveland have created a prosthetic hand using FlexiForce™ sensors from Tekscan, Inc.

A recent survey of medical device design engineers, conducted in April 2011 by medical device media company UBM Canon, revealed accuracy and cost as the two key attributes they seek in a force sensor when designing a new product.