10 accepted papers
Soft robotics offer biocompatibility, dexterity, and safe tissue interaction in surgery, providing potential alternatives to conventional tools such as colonoscopes. However, their nonlinear behaviour demands closed-loop control with structure-compatible feedback. This work presents a scalable 3D sh
This paper presents a soft Cable-Driven Parallel Robot for gastrointestinal surgery. The robot consists of an inflatable scaffold and a hydraulic variable stiffness end-effector and features six degrees of freedom. Experiments involving passage through a colon model, knot tying, and retraction have
Minimally Invasive Surgery has advanced surgical practice, yet early-stage gastrointestinal cancer treatment remains challenging. Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection offers a solution but faces maneuverability constraints in complex anatomical environments. This paper presents a novel inflatable soft r
Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (DRS) is a wellestablished optical technique for tissue composition assessment which has been clinically evaluated for tumour detection to ensure the complete removal of cancerous tissue. While pointwise assessment has many potential applications, incorporating autom
This paper presents a soft, inflatable, cable-driven parallel robot (CDPR) for Minimally Invasive Surgery. The CDPR has 5 degrees of freedom and is driven by 6 cables and 6 hydraulic folded actuators. The actuator utilizes a folded chamber to pull a cable. The robot comprises a soft hexagonal variab
Transoral laser phonosurgery is a commonly used surgical procedure in which a laser beam is used to perform incision, ablation or photocoagulation of laryngeal tissues. Two techniques are commonly practiced: free beam and fiber delivery. For free beam delivery, a laser scanner is integrated into a s
This paper presents a three-tendon actuated continuum robot with an origami backbone to assist the elderly and physically impaired individuals in performing activities of daily living. The proposed design solution is an inherently safe and cost-effective alternative to current assistive robots. The…
Soft robotic systems offer benefits over traditional rigid systems through reduced contact trauma with soft tissues and by enabling access through tortuous paths in minimally invasive surgery. However, the inherent deformability of soft robots places both a greater onus on accurate modelling of thei…
Gastrointestinal (GI) cancers account for 1.5 million deaths worldwide. Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection (ESD) is an advanced therapeutic endoscopy technique with superior clinical outcome due to the minimally invasive and en bloc removal of tumours. In the western world, ESD is seldom carried out,…
Patients suffering from quadriplegia have limited body motion which prevents them from performing daily activities. We have developed an assistive robotic system with an intuitive free-view gaze interface. The user's point of regard is estimated in 3D space while allowing free head movement and is c…