Abstract: Devices, systems, and techniques are disclosed for intelligent semiconductor based medical tweezers and instrumentation including microscale sensors, actuators and circuitry for tissue detection and characterization. In one aspect, a tweezer device includes a hinge structure to enable tweezing motion of the device for clamping a sample, two leg components coupled to the hinge structure, a plurality of microprobes configured on both of the two leg components, and an electronic circuit electrically coupled to the microprobes to process and/or transmit the electronic signals. The microprobes include sensors in a sensing tip structured to penetrate into the sample when the device clamps the sample and produce electronic signals from the sensors of a property of the sample, the sensors of the sensing tip including at least one of an electrode to measure an electrical potential, an electrical permittivity sensor to measure electrical permittivity, or a strain gauge to measure mechanical compliance.

Abstract: Devices, systems, and techniques are disclosed for intelligent semiconductor based medical tweezers and instrumentation including microscale sensors, actuators and circuitry for tissue detection and characterization. In one aspect, a tweezer device includes a hinge structure to enable tweezing motion of the device for clamping a sample, two leg components coupled to the hinge structure, a plurality of microprobes configured on both of the two leg components, and an electronic circuit electrically coupled to the microprobes to process and/or transmit the electronic signals. The microprobes include sensors in a sensing tip structured to penetrate into the sample when the device clamps the sample and produce electronic signals from the sensors of a property of the sample, the sensors of the sensing tip including at least one of an electrode to measure an electrical potential, an electrical permittivity sensor to measure electrical permittivity, or a strain gauge to measure mechanical compliance.