A novel mechanical design of a wearable fingertip haptic device for remote meniscus palpation

A pneumatic model of a fingertip haptic device (FHD) had been previously tested in virtual reality allowing the perception of different materials with a promising result. However, numerous drawbacks were noted in this design, including bulky size, less portability, and discomfort. In this paper, FHD is redesigned to provide haptic feedback for human meniscus palpation. A user study was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the redesigned FHD. The study showed that the redesigned model could successfully provide a more evident perception of different stiffness levels but it compromised the comfort of the user when mounted on the finger for long periods.