Patent ID: 8551002

Claim:
A surgical hand tool comprising: an end portion configured to perform a function; a handle portion that, when manipulated by a user, causes the end portion to perform its function; a plurality of sensors on the end portion arranged in a predetermined spatial array to concurrently sense a property of a patient at multiple locations; a processing device coupled to receive signals from the plurality of sensors and programmed to process the signals to obtain spatiotemporal information about blood flow of the patient by processing the property sensed over time, wherein the spatiotemporal information comprises information about a direction of blood flow through a blood vessel of the patient; and an output device configured to present the spatiotemporal information about blood flow of the patient to the user; wherein the output device is a haptic actuator configured to impose a haptic effect on the user, the haptic effect being related to the spatiotemporal information obtained by the processing device.