blade portions 26 28 are metal substructure with a plastic over moulding when located in position relative to one another they create a hollow structure within which is housed the internal electronics including sensors 34 inner and outer blade portions 26 28 are ultrasonically welded together to create two separate forceps members 12 12 u2032 which are mirror images of one another with the internal electronics including sensors 34 securely located therebetween sensors 34 are mem sensors and are positioned to detect compression forces exerted by the forceps blades on an object being gripped during use the forceps system shown in the figures is intended for use in the birthing process to facilitate a forceps delivery therefore the forceps blade portions 14 are contoured to correspond to the contours of a baby 39 s skull the sensors 34 are therefore positioned to measure the compression forces applied by the forceps blade portions 14 to the baby 39 s skull during the forceps delivery process the compression and traction forces detected and measured by sensors 34 and the array of strain gauges are regulated and calibrated within the handle portion 16 of the forceps system 10 by means of a processing card not shown through a series of amplification however it will be appreciated that the signal amplification calibration and processing may.