An Internet based pulse palpation system for Chinese medicine

The paper proposes a new haptic system for the pulse palpation via the Internet for remote diagnosis of patients without time and space restrictions. First, we design a pulse-detect sensor to obtains the pulse signals from the patient´s wrist. Next, a server-client process is developed to transfer the pulse signals to the remote computer. Then, a haptic device is used to provide an interface for the doctor to feel the pulses of the patient at a remote distance. The haptic device regenerates the pulse signals by a motor-controlled cam system. To couple the doctor with the remote environment and give him a sense of telepresence, a trajectory follower is implemented: the cam follower moves up and down in accordance with the desired pulse trajectory. In addition, by considering the system as a one-dimensional manipulator, a PID force controller is realized to trace the desired force obtained from pressure sensors on the patient´s side. As a result, the force felt by the doctor from the haptic device is closed to that he/she would feel from the patient´s wrist directly.