Design of haptic force feedback for catheter insertion mechanism

The objective of this thesis is to design a system which can perform catheter insertion into a human body with haptic feedback. The haptic feedback will consist of a system; a surgeon can use to feel forces in his hand while performing operation from a remote distance. The addition of touch sensor will enable the surgeon to know how much force is being applied to any tissues, and he will sense the same feeling as if working on the patient during the manipulation of the catheter. In this research scale model is used to simulate the catheter insertion operation. This research also demonstrates the effectiveness of MR fluid devices in force feedback applications. Force and displacement sensors sense the environment conditions along which the end effectors of electronic actuator moves. This information is then used to control the MR fluid device to provide appropriate force feedback to user. The research done and system created intended for future research benefiting the Wichita State University's biomechanics program. Suggestions for future research are included. Problems encountered during research and solutions found are also addressed.