11 accepted papers
Surgical lasers are becoming increasingly prevalent in minimally invasive procedures, as laser fibers are thin and flexible, allowing for precise targeting. The use of surgical lasers spans tissue manipulation, energy delivery (in laser interstitial thermal therapy), imaging (optical coherence tomog
Presents corrections to the article “Model-Based Design of the COAST Guidewire Robot for Large Deflection.
Interstitial brachytherapy requires up to 20 straight needles to surround and irradiate deep-seated tumors, but may offer sub-optimal radiation dosage in cases of advanced cancers. A steerable stylet can be used to guide the needle within the tissue, improving procedure accuracy and reducing the num
Presents corrections to the article “Design, Modeling, and Control of a Coaxially Aligned Steerable (COAST) Guidewire Robot”.
A hybrid continuum robot design is introduced that combines a proximal tendon-actuated section with a distal telescoping section comprised of permanent-magnet spheres actuated using an external magnet. While, individually, each section can approach a point in its workspace from one or at most severa…
Minimally invasive endovascular procedures involve the manual placement of a guidewire, which is made difficult by vascular tortuosity and the lack of precise tip control. Steerable guidewire systems have been developed with tendon-driven, magnetic, and concentric tube actuation strategies to enable
Manual navigation of a guidewire is the first step in endovascular interventions. However, this procedure is time consuming with uncertain results due to tortuous vascular anatomy. This paper introduces the design of a novel COaxially Aligned STeerable (COAST) guidewire robot that is 0.40 mm in diam
Endovascular and endoscopic surgical procedures require micro-scale and meso-scale continuum robotic tools to navigate complex anatomical structures. In numerous studies, fiber Bragg grating (FBG) based shape sensing has been used for measuring the deflection of continuum robots on larger scales, bu
Hydrocephalus in the pediatric population is often treated with endoscopic procedures, in which a rigid endoscope provides a working channel and needed visualization for brain manipulation. The lack of flexible and steerable endoscopic tools limits the ability of the surgeon to conduct complex opera…
Robots have the potential to assist people in bed, such as in healthcare settings, yet bedding materials like sheets and blankets can make observation of the human body difficult for robots. A pressure-sensing mat on a bed can provide pressure images that are relatively insensitive to bedding materi…
In most cases of peripheral arterial disease (PAD), the operating surgeon must use a variety of catheters riding on a thin wire known as a `guidewire'. This guidewire must be manually navigated through a tortuous pathway of arteries to arrive at the diseased area. Automation of the guidewire therefo…