Robocop-a-feel! Droid lets you feel virtual BREASTS - and could revolutionise cancer detection

• Researchers from Gifu University, Japan, created the haptic device
• It attaches to a person's hand and can simulate the softness of different materials by producing realistic tactile sensations on individual fingertips
• Mechanism uses a thin, flexible sheets of a material known as hyper-gel, which has some properties similar to human flesh, to simulate softness
• Device could be used as a tool to help trainee doctors become skilled in examinations that involve feeling parts of the body with the hands

A robot that lets you feel breasts virtually, may sound like a prop from a bizarre sci-fi film.

But not only does it exist – the device could have useful medical applications and potentially improve breast cancer detection.

It accurately simulates the sensation of coming into contact with a real breast tissue which could  serve as a training tool for medical students learning to recognise potentially cancerous lumps.

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Robo-cop-a-feel: The haptic robot (pictured) accurately simulates the sensation of coming into contact with a real breast, which could not only prove useful to lonely or inexperienced men, but could serve as a training tool for medical students

HOW DOES THE DEVICE WORK?

The haptic robot simulates the sensation of coming into contact with a real breast.
It consists of a five-fingered haptic hand connected to a robotic arm a with a mechanism that comes into contact with the fingertips.
This mechanism uses a thin, flexible sheets of a material known as hyper-gel, which has some properties similar to human flesh.
To simulate softness, the sheets of gel are stretched by two tiny rollers with a gap between them, so that they  are suspended.
Your finger rests on a strip and by using a motor and a set of gears to move the rollers, the tension on the strip of gel can be increased or decreased.
Increasing the tension and tightening the sheet of gel makes it feel harder under your finger, while decreasing the tension makes it feel softer.

Japanese researchers developed the haptic device that attaches to a person's hand and can simulate the softness of different materials by producing realistic tactile sensations on individual fingertips, IEEE Spectrum reported.

It could be used as a training tool to help trainee doctors become skilled in examinations that involve feeling parts of the body with the hands – particularly in learning how to palpate breasts when looking for lumps.

The scientists from Gifu University, Japan, who came up with the invention, called it a ‘multi-fingered haptic interface robot,’ and debuted it at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) in Hong Kong.

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