Project description
Improving colorectal cancer treatment with AI assistance
Colorectal cancer represents a significant health issue, with many cases detected at later stages, resulting in low survival rates and poor quality of life. A 2022 European Commission report noted that colonoscopy-based screening, though more sensitive than stool blood tests, is less acceptable to patients. Additionally, current methods for treating colon polyps are limited, often leading to unsafe oncological margins and high complication rates. These treatments frequently require life-altering medical procedures. In this context, the ERC-funded EndoTheranostics project aims to develop a tip-growing robot with AI-assisted multimodal imaging for painless colon cleansing, real-time polyp detection, and precise removal using a miniature inflatable operating chamber with a surgical bi-manual mini-robot in shared-control. This multidisciplinary approach seeks to improve patient outcomes.
Objective
Colorectal cancer (CRC) represents a significant proportion of malignant diseases. Interventions are often carried out during the latter stages of development, leading to low patient survival rates and poor quality of life. In 2022 a European Commission report stated that colonoscopy-based screening has higher sensitivity than testing for blood in stool, but it is less acceptable to participants. At the same time, effective methods to treat polyps in the colon are limited. Current approaches are often associated with unsafe oncological margins and high complication rates, requiring life-changing surgery.
EndoTheranostics will usher in a new era for screening colonoscopy, advancing the frontiers of medical imaging and robotics. A tip-growing or eversion robot with a sleeve-like structure will be created to extend deep into hollow spaces while perceiving the environment through multimodal imaging and sensing. It will also act as a conduit to transfer miniaturised instruments to the remote site within the colon for diagnosis and therapy (theranostics). With these capabilities, the system will be able to offer:
1. painless colon cleansing in preparation for endoscopy;
2. real-time polyp detection and tissue characterisation through AI-assisted multimodal imaging;
3. effective removal of polyps by conveying a miniature mobile operating chamber equipped with microsurgical tools to the target through the lumen of the eversion robot.
The unique technical and clinical challenges will be tackled by the PIs, each bringing complementary skills, backed by their institutions with wide expertise and exceptional facilities. The synergy and added value evident in this team will lead to breakthroughs not possible through independent research. The outcomes of EndoTheranostics will revolutionise the theranostics of CRC, impacting the quality of life of millions of individuals. Ultimately it will launch a new era for endoluminal intervention with applications beyond medicine.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringrobotics
You need to log in or register to use this function
Keywords
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Topic(s)
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-ERC-SYG - HORIZON ERC Synergy GrantsHost institution
10124 Torino
Italy