Objective The primary objective of the ARES Project is to investigate a revolutionary system for endoluminal surgery including the development of an experimental prototype. Surgical procedures of the future will evolve from today???s minimal invasive approach to ext remely high precision, localized and targeted endoluminal techniques. New surgical tools, capable of entering the human body through natural orifices or very small incisions and configuring themselves into complex kinematic structures at the specific site of intervention are required. Endoluminal surgery will encompass several distinctive steps: a) processing of previously acquired medical data (primarily images), simulation and planning of intervention; b) computer design of the optimal configuration of th e endoluminal robotic tool customized for the specific therapy at the target site; c) selection of modules necessary to reconstruct the robotic device inside the body; d) delivery of modules within the body to the desired site; e) (self) assembling and rec onfiguration of the resulting kinematic chain in order to form the pre-planned robot; f) extremely precise execution of the intervention; g) disassembly, recovery or biodegradation of the modules.In order to reduce the risks associated with such a visionar y and challenging goal and in order to achieve tangible results in a three year time frame, ARES will focus on a specific objective, i.e. the investigation and development of a reconfigurable surgical robot for the gastrointestinal tract. The project will primarily focus on critical theoretical and technological issues for implementing the above concept, including the kinematic analysis of the reconfigurable internal mechanisms; locking/unlocking systems; control and communication; design, fabrication and i ntegration of sensing and actuation modules. ARES is the first milestone of a ground-breaking research theme which has connections to, but does not directly fall within, the FP6 Thematic Priorities. Fields of science social sciencesmedia and communicationsjournalismsocial sciencessociologyindustrial relationsautomationmedical and health sciencesclinical medicinesurgerysurgical proceduresengineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringroboticshumanitieslanguages and literatureliterature studiesliterary genresessaysscience fiction Keywords Endoluminal surgery modular reconfigurable robotics molecular machine self-assembly Programme(s) FP6-POLICIES - Policy support: Specific activities covering wider field of research under the Focusing and Integrating Community Research programme 2002-2006. Topic(s) NEST-2003-1 - Adventure activities Call for proposal FP6-2003-NEST-B-3 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme STREP - Specific Targeted Research Project Coordinator SCUOLA SUPERIORE DI STUDI UNIVERSITARI E DI PERFEZIONAMENTO SANT'ANNA EU contribution No data Address Piazza Martiri della Liberta' 33 PISA Italy See on map Links Website Opens in new window Total cost No data Participants (3) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all INSTITUT NATIONAL DE RECHERCHE EN INFORMATIQUE ET AUTOMATIQUE France EU contribution No data Address Domaine de Voluceau- Rocquencourt LE CHESNAY See on map Links Website Opens in new window Total cost No data SWISS FEDERAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, ZURICH Switzerland EU contribution No data Address Raemistrasse 101 ZURICH See on map Links Website Opens in new window Total cost No data UNIVERSITAT DE BARCELONA Spain EU contribution No data Address Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, 585 (Vicerectorat de Política Internacional; OPER) BARCELONA See on map Links Website Opens in new window Total cost No data
