A portable sensorized micro end-effector for operating in biomedical test-benches

This paper is focused on a portable sensorized micro end-effector purposely designed for operating in biomedical test-benches. The gripper, previously designed and fabricated in various materials exploiting different technologies, has been devised to perform tasks of micromanipulation and characterization of biological tissues once integrated into the workstation developed in the authors\´ lab. The last model of the gripper prototype has been integrated in a "smart" mounting, with on board electronics for signal processing, and further improvements are planned in order to enhance the portability of the tool. Actually, for the development of novel tools and methodologies in the fields of biomedical engineering and computer assisted surgery (CAS), ever-growing importance have both in vitro and in vivo tests, aimed at validating methods and at optimizing innovative tools. The selected gripper, fabricated in stainless steel by laser machining, is equipped with commercial semiconductor strain gauges as force sensors.