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Biomedical subjects

S Omata

Publications and source records attributed to S Omata.

96 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

A new tactile skin sensor for measuring skin hardness in patients with systemic sclerosis and autoimmune Raynaud's phenomenon.

We used a new tactile sensor to measure the elastic properties of skin in patients with systemic sclerosis or Raynaud's phenomenon. The sensor consists of a piezoelectric vibrator with vibration pickup to measure frequency changes when the sensor is placed on the skin. The mean frequency change at the skin surface of the proximol third phalanx in patients with systemic sclerosis was significantly lower than in age- and sex-matched controls. The results in systemic sclerosis patients were statistically correlated to the Modified Rodnan Skin Thickness Score. This technique was also used to measure the therapeutic efficacy of salpogrelate, a new specific serotonin receptor antagonist. A greater mean frequency change was seen after treatment. We conclude that this new tactile sensor is useful for quantitatively measuring skin sclerosis and may help determine the efficacy of therapeutic treatments.

Benzene Derivatives↗

A tactile sensor for detection of physical properties of human skin in vivo.

A spring loaded tactile sensor with displacement sensing has been evaluated for non-invasive assessment of physical properties, stiffness and elasticity, of human skin in vivo. The tactile sensor consists of a peizoelectric vibrator (61 kHz) with a vibration pickup, electronics and PC with software for measurement of the change in frequency when the sensor is attached to an object. Integrated with the tactile sensor is a displacement sensor that shows the compression of the spring that loads the sensor element against the object during measurement. Under certain conditions (e.g. fixed contact pressure) this change in frequency monitors the acoustic impedance of the object and is related to the stiffness of soft tissue. The experimental results on silicone gum and on healthy Japanese and Swedish women indicated that the instrument was able to detect changes in stiffness and elastic related properties of human skin, related to age, day-to-day variations and application of cosmetics. The instrument was concluded to be easy to handle and suitable for field work.

Adolescent↗

New tactile sensor techniques for localization of pulmonary nodules.

We developed a new method for thoracoscopically localizing pulmonary nodules using a tactile sensor. This sensor was originally designed to probe the hardness of an object, which is represented by changes in resonance frequency of the sensor (delta f: Hz). By moving over the lung surface, the sensor probe, introduced through a 10 mm trocar, was able to search for nodules within the pulmonary parenchyma thoracoscopically. When the sensor probe passed just above a nodule, which was harder than the adjacent tissue, a sudden sharp increase in the curve was observed. We have successfully utilized this method in 16 cases since August 1994. A representative case is that of a 68-year-old male who was admitted with an indeterminate nodule, demonstrated preoperatively in the left lung by chest computed tomography, which was localized with this technique and resected under thoracoscopic surgery.

Aged↗