The present disclosure relates to devices, systems, and methods for controlling the pressure a sensor applies on the surface of tissue to facilitate locating underlying pressure sensitive critical structures. The laparoscopic device includes a handle and a shaft extending distally from the handle. A flexible member is slidably disposed within the shaft and movable between a retracted position and an extended position. A sensor is coupled to a distal end of the flexible member. The flexible member is configured to flex to limit an amount of pressure applied by the sensor to a tissue surface when the sensor is in contact with a tissue surface.

The present invention provides methods and systems to periodically monitor the emotional state of a subject comprising the steps of: exposing the subject to a plurality of stimuli during a session; acquiring objective data from a plurality of monitoring sensors, wherein at least one sensor measures a physiological parameter; transferring the data to a database; and processing the data to extract objective information about the emotional state of the subject.

An object of the present invention is to provide a durometer enabling a contact portion in contact with an object to perform smooth piston motion. The durometer includes a main body unit including a movable unit pressed continuously against an object to be measured, a first sensor outputting acceleration information corresponding to an acceleration of movement of a contact part of the object to be measured in contact with the movable unit in a pressing direction, a second sensor outputting reactive force information corresponding to a reactive force at the contact part of the object to be measured in contact with the movable unit, a motor, a crank mechanism driven by the motor and causing the main body unit and the movable unit to perform piston motion, and at least one buffering member disposed on a periphery of the main body unit.

Methods, systems, and devices are disclosed herein for conducting skin analysis for a user. In one aspect, an apparatus for conducting skin analysis is disclosed, comprising: a reflective display operative to reflect an image of a user and to render a graphical user interface; an input interface operative to receive a user input for operating the apparatus, wherein the input interface includes a motion sensor module operative to detect gesture user input; an image capturing module, wherein the image capturing module is operative to capture an image of the user; a processing system configured to receive the captured image from the image capturing module, to receive the user input from the input interface, and to generate a skin profile corresponding to the user's skin condition based on the captured image; and a wireless communication module operative to transmit the skin profile outbound to a computing device, and operative to receive skincare feedback that is generated based on the skin profile from the computing device.

A system is provided that includes a device configured to treat a body part of a user, the device including, at least one sensor configured to sense a condition of the body part; and a location tracker configured to track a location of the device in space, wherein the system is includes processing circuitry configured to receive information of a specific sensed condition of the body part detected by the at least one sensor during a session, receive, from the location tracker, information of the tracked location of the device during the session, and associate a specific time when the specific sensed condition is detected by the device with a location of the device in space at the specific time.

Disclosed is an apparatus for estimating bio-information. The apparatus for estimating bio-information includes: a sensor part comprising a pulse wave sensor array configured to detect a pulse wave signal when an object contacts a contact surface of the sensor part, and a load sensor configured to detect a first contact load applied by the object to the contact surface; and a processor configured to obtain contact load distribution of the contact surface based on the pulse wave signal, and to estimate bio-information based on the contact load distribution.

A device for measuring the elastic deformability of soft tissue has a probe head having the form of a cup with a cavity, side walls and a bottom wall, a first probe channel, a pressure unit and a control unit, the first probe channel being configured to connect the pressure unit, that provides a vacuum inside first probe channel and that is controlled by the control unit with the probe head. The first probe channel has a distal end leading through the bottom wall into the cavity. The device further has a second probe channel having a distal end leading through the bottom wall into the cavity and being connected with a pressure sensor provided to determine the pressure in the cavity and to communicate it to the control unit to determine a point in time, when deformed tissue closes the distal end of the first probe channel based on a pressure difference in the two probe channels.

An apparatus for estimating bio-information includes: a sensor part configured to obtain contact pressure of a contact surface contacted by an object, and configured to obtain a contact image of the object that contacts the contact surface; and a processor configured to obtain a pulse wave signal of a region of interest based on the contact image, and configured to estimate bio-information based on the obtained pulse wave signal and the contact pressure.

In some aspects, the present disclosure provides methods for identifying a disease in an epithelial tissue of a subject. Methods for identifying a disease in an epithelial tissue comprise the generation of a depth profile of the epithelial tissue using signals generated from the tissue by pulses of light directed towards a surface of the epithelial tissue. In some aspects, the present disclosure provides apparatuses consistent with the methods herein.

An apparatus for estimating bio-information according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a first sensor configured to obtain a fingerprint image of a finger of the user; a second sensor configured to measure a force or a pressure applied by the finger; and a processor configured to obtain, based on the fingerprint image, a first feature value related to pulse waves and a second feature value related to skin elasticity; obtain a third feature value based on the force or the pressure; and estimate the bio-information of the user based on the first feature value, the second feature value, and the third feature value.