A pressure/motion sensor system to quantify abdominal palpations in traditional medicine

Abstract

This paper describes a new sensor system for an abdominal palpation procedure in traditional medicine. This sensor system uses a motion capture system and a thin film force/pressure sensor which enables to measuring the depth and the force/pressure at the same time during abdominal palpations. We customised the motion capture system, making it suitable for abdominal palpations, to prevent a physician from being distracted and to eliminate blind spots. We fabricated a detecting circuit for the force/pressure sensor which uses a Bluetooth low energy module and which is powered by a coin cell battery. The circuit enables mounting the detecting circuit on a glove. In addition, we developed a user interface application which is easy to use and which records the information on abdominal palpations on a personal computer. The abdominal palpation sensor system should transfer the diagnostic criteria to young physicians more easily and appropriately in traditional medicine.