Design of a decoupled MRI-compatible force sensor using fiber Bragg grating sensors for robot-assisted prostate interventions

During prostate needle insertion, the gland rotates and displaces resulting in needle placement inaccuracy. To compensate for this error, we proposed master-slave needle steering under real-time MRI in a previous study. For MRI-compatibility and accurate motion control, the master (and the slave) robot uses piezo actuators. These actuators however, are non-backdrivable. To cope with this issue, force sensor is required. Force sensor is also required at the slave side to reflect the insertion force to clinician's hand through the master robot. Currently, there is no MRIcompatible force sensor commercially available. In order to generate a combination of linear and rotary motions for needle steering, this study is seeking to develop a MRI-compatible 2 Degrees of Freedom (DOF) force/torque sensor. Fiber Brag Grating (FBG) strain measuring sensors which are proven to be MRI-compatible are used. The active element is made of phosphor-bronze and other parts are made of brass. The force and torque measurements are designed to be entirely decoupled. The sensor measures -20 to 20 N axial force with 0.1 N resolution, and -200 to 200 Nmm axial torque with 1 Nmm resolution. Analytical and Finite Element (FE) analyses are performed to ensure the strains are within the measurable range of the FBG sensors. The sensor is designed to be compact (diameter =15 mm, height =20 mm) and easy to handle and install. The proposed sensor is fabricated and calibrated using a commercial force/torque sensor.