Problem/issue being addressed:
Diagnostic agents are currently injected into the body in an uncontrolled way and visualized using non-real-time imaging modalities. Delivering agents close to the organ and magnetically guiding them to the target would permit a myriad of novel diagnostic and therapeutic options, including on-site pathology and targeted drug delivery. Such an advance would truly revolutionize minimally invasive surgery (MIS). Presently MIS often involves manual percutaneous insertion of rigid needles and catheters. These instruments deviate from their intended paths due to tissue deformation and physiological processes. Inaccurate needle placement may result in misdiagnosis or ineffective treatment. Thus, the goal of ROBOTAR is to design a robotic system to accurately steer flexible needles/catheters through tissue, and enable precise delivery of agents by magnetically guiding them to a designated target.
Important for society:
Despite many advances in minimally invasive surgery (MIS) and drug availability, cancer is still one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. Early diagnosis and effective treatment of the diseased tissue can greatly improve patient care. However, diseased tissue is often deep-seated within the body, and the sizes of cancer cells and lesions are small (from 10 μm to 10 mm). Therefore, it is a challenge to perform precise diagnosis and localized therapy without affecting neighboring healthy tissue, and toxicity of healthy tissue often results in side effects. Motivated by this challenge, researchers have proposed the use of biodegradable and biocompatible diagnostic agents. However, these agents are currently injected into the circulatory system in an uncontrolled manner, and visualized using non-real-time imaging modalities (e.g. magnetic resonance (MR) or molecular imaging techniques). If these agents could be delivered closer to the organ of interest, and then magnetically guided precisely to the target - this would open up a gamut of diagnosis and treatment options ranging from rapid on-site pathological tests and localized chemotherapy to targeted drug delivery via nanocapsules. Such an advance would truly revolutionize MIS; also for clinical applications beyond cancer.
Overall objective:
The overall aim of ROBOTAR is to develop an integrated robotic needle steering system that enables targeted delivery of a wide range of diagnostic and therapeutic magnetic micro- and nano-sized agents, thereby making MIS more effective and improving patient care.
