Semiconductor devices could lead to smart surgical gloves

According to a statement, the devices, shown to be capable of responding with high precision to the stresses and strains associated with touch and finger movement, are a step towards the creation of surgical gloves for use in medical procedures such as local ablations and ultrasound scans.

Researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Northwestern University and Dalian University of Technology have published their study today, 10 August, in IOP Publishing’s journal Nanotechnology.

Offering guidelines to the creation of these electrotactile stimulation devices for use on surgeons’ fingertips, their paper is said to describe the materials, fabrication strategies and device designs using ultra-thin, stretchable, silicon-based electronics and soft sensors that can be mounted onto an artificial ‘skin’ and fitted to fingertips.

‘Imagine the ability to sense the electrical properties of tissue and then locally remove that tissue, precisely by local ablation, all via the fingertips using smart surgical gloves. Alternatively, or perhaps in addition, ultrasound imaging could be possible,’ said co-author of the study Prof John Rogers.