公开(公告)号：US20180238856A1

公开(公告)日：2018-08-23

申请号：US15898768

申请日：2018-02-19

申请人： Heriot-Watt University

发明人： Paul Scanlan ,  Robert Lewis Reuben ,  Steven James Hammer ,  Wenmiao Shu ,  Simon Phipps ,  Stuart Alan McNeill ,  Daniel W. Good

IPC分类号： G01N33/483

CPC分类号： G01N33/4833 ,  A61B5/0053 ,  A61B5/4381 ,  G01N2203/0094

摘要： Disclosed is an apparatus for determining viscoelastic characteristics of at least a portion of an object. The apparatus comprises a fluidly sealable housing, comprising at least one aperture and at least one fluid inlet port and at least one resilient membrane that is operatively coupled to the housing so as to sealingly engage with the at least one aperture. The apparatus further comprises at least one actuator that is operatively coupled to the at least one inlet port and adapted to actuate the at least one resilient membrane via a working fluid that is contained within the housing, so that the at least one resilient membrane is moved towards and into engagement with at least a portion of an object at a predetermined pressure. Furthermore, the apparatus comprises at least one first sensor that is operably coupled to the membrane and that is adapted to determine at least a deformation of the at least one resilient membrane during actuation.