The usage of robotics in medical interventions has increased in recent years. However, most robotic solutions available don't offer realistic feedback to the user, resulting in the user relying purely on visual feedback. Relaying the forces experienced on the slave side, back to the user on the master side is a solution many have experimented with. This is called haptic feedback (or kinesthetic feedback). Allowing the user to experience the same forces as the slave device results in a more realistic feel for the user and a safer intervention. Users are found to use excessive force when relying solely on visual feedback, which can result in increased tissue damage.
Soft actuators have been proposed as a solution to robotic devices that need to operate near imaging environments where metals are not allowed, such as MRI and CT. This research aims to evaluate soft actuators called reverse Pneumatic Artificial Muscles (rPAM) for usage in haptic teleoperations. Force feedback is integrated to a haptic device that uses these actuators, in order to evaluate the actuators' efficacy for usage in haptic interventions, specifically needle insertions.