{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,6]],"date-time":"2026-05-06T16:07:43Z","timestamp":1778083663245,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":27,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,28]],"date-time":"2025-03-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1743120000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000001","name":"US National Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["NSF-2222918"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NSF-2222918"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000001","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Medical palpation is a task that traditionally requires a skilled practitioner to assess and diagnose a patient through direct touch and manipulation of their body. In regions with a shortage of such professionals, robotic hands or sensorized gloves could potentially capture the necessary haptic information during palpation exams and relay it to medical doctors for diagnosis. From an engineering perspective, a comprehensive understanding of the relevant motions and forces is essential for designing haptic technologies capable of fully capturing this information. This study focuses on thyroid examination palpation, aiming to analyze the hand motions and forces applied to the patient\u2019s skin during the procedure. We identified key palpation techniques through video recordings and interviews and measured the force characteristics during palpation performed by both non-medical participants and medical professionals. Our findings revealed five primary palpation hand motions and characterized the multi-dimensional interaction forces involved in these motions. These insights provide critical design guidelines for developing haptic sensing and display technologies optimized for remote thyroid nodule palpation and diagnosis.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s25072159","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,31]],"date-time":"2025-03-31T02:50:16Z","timestamp":1743389416000},"page":"2159","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Characterization of Medical Neck Palpation to Inform Design of Haptic Palpation Sensors"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"25","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2208-2735","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Angela","family":"Chan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Computer Science, College of Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5269-0734","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anzu","family":"Kawazoe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Noah","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9751-6155","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rebecca Fenton","family":"Friesen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4326-5784","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Thomas K.","family":"Ferris","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Environmental & Occupational Health, Texas A&M School of Public Health, 212 Adriance Lab Rd., College Station, TX 77843, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Francis","family":"Quek","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Computer Science, College of Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7500-9785","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"M. Cynthia","family":"Hipwell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Zhou, S., Li, Y., Wang, Q., and Lyu, Z. (2024). Integrated Actuation and Sensing: Toward Intelligent Soft Robots. Cyborg Bionic Syst., 5.","DOI":"10.34133\/cbsystems.0105"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Inoue, Y., Kuroda, Y., Yamanoi, Y., Yabuki, Y., and Yokoi, H. (2024). Development of Wrist Separated Exoskeleton Socket of Myoelectric Prosthesis Hand for Symbrachydactyly. Cyborg Bionic Syst., 5.","DOI":"10.34133\/cbsystems.0141"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Pompilio, M., D\u2019Aurizio, N., Baldi, T.L., Franco, L., Gabriele, G., and Prattichizzo, D. 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