Instrumentation and feedback control in surgical robotics

#surgical #robotics #biomedical #engineering

Surgical robotics is the cutting edge of contemporary surgery. It has led to a revolution in medicine since its inception, over 3 decades ago. It now enables surgeons to consider minimally invasive approaches instead of open surgery, and procedures that could not be performed with conventional means.  This presentation will cover the principles of robotic surgery, ranging from instrumentation, feedback control, and imaging to real time tissue classification. 

The first part of this presentation explores applications of medical robotics in the context of percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL). PCNL is a procedure used to remove large kidney stones from the body when they cannot pass on their own. A tool is inserted through a small incision in the patient’s back to gain access to the kidney and remove the stones. In collaboration with a company specialised in PCNL, we are investigating methods to help surgeons gain proper kidney access and develop their surgical skills by means of robotic assistance. 

The second part of this presentation explores instrumentation of surgical needles for tissue discrimination and imaging in the context of brachytherapy cancer treatment. Needles are equipped with sensors to measure the electrical impedance of the tissue at the needle tip and classify the tissue. When several electrode needles are used concurrently, it is possible to create a tomographic image of the tissue by introducing the concept of minimally invasive electrical impedance tomography and delineate tumour margins. Finally, minimally invasive acoustoelectric tomography is explored to improve image resolution.