Students Graduation Project

Design and Optimization of MEMS Insertion Force Sensor for Dental Surgical Drilling
Introduction The project is a part of the Sensory Feedback for Surgical Drilling project. The overall goal of this project is to develop a drillintegrated sensor system providing information about tissue type and condition in the immediate vicinity of the drill bit (Fig. 1a). The sensor system will also provide information about the drilling process. Patient safety in oral implantology (Fig. 1b) will be improved by early detection of vulnerable anatomical structures and failure rates will be reduced by accurate knowledge of the implants biological environment, as well as of the drilling condition. The MEMS insertion force sensor will be based on a biologicallyinspired strain sensor [1]. The MEMS will be integrated within the drill bit (the bur in fig. 1a). As the drill bit is being inserted reaction force from the tissue, the stimuli stress will deflect the bioinspired domeshape membrane of the MEMS vertically. Two transduction mechanisms are possible. The first one is to measure this membrane deflection optically using an optical Michelson interferometry setup. The second one is to measure the deflection using capacitive method. In either way, the challenging task is to couple the information from the rotating part of the drill to the fixed part of the drill. Scope of Students Project The student will be involved in the structural and physical design of the MEMS and the accompanying transduction method. He or she will use 3-D design tools and Finite Element Modelling to numerically simulate and optimize the structure, and will design mask for the actual fabrication of the device within DIMES or any other foundries. In collaboration with other researchers from the project, the student will characterize the fabricated device, for either the optical-transduction scheme, or the capacitive transduction scheme. Writing publication and thesis will be an integral part of the project.
References: [1] D.H.B. Wicaksono, Learning from Nature: Biologically-inspired Sensors, Ph.D thesis, TU Delft, 2008.

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Fig. 1. (a) Typical dental drill bit, (b). Dental Implant.

Fig. 2. MEMS Strain Sensor

Interested? For further information please contact:

Dr. Dedy H.B. Wicaksono Dept. of Biomechanical Engineering Faculty of Maritime, Mechanical, and Materials Engineering Delft Univ. of Technology Room 8C-1-33 Mekelweg 2 2628 CD Delft Telp: 015-278 1688 Fax: 015-278 4717 Mobile: 06 4250 1407 Email: d.h.b.wicaksono@tudelft.nl Prof. dr. Paddy French Electronic Instr. Lab. Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics, and Computer Science Delft Univ. of Technology Room 13.260 Mekelweg 4 2628 CD Delft Telp: 015-278 4729 Fax: 015 278 5755 Email: p.j.french@tudelft.nl