Descrizione del progetto
Un grande balzo in avanti per la chirurgia minimamente invasiva
La chirurgia minimamente invasiva ha compiuto passi da gigante con l’avvento delle tecniche assistite da robot. Tuttavia, il vero potenziale della chirurgia mininvasiva assistita da robot non è stato ancora sfruttato a causa di limitazioni significative in ambito di strumentazione e controllo. Sfide come l’accesso limitato, la mancanza di retroazione della forza e l’uso di strumenti rigidi in spazi ristretti ostacolano l’adozione diffusa di questo tipo di chirurgia per diverse tipologie di interventi. Il progetto SMARTsurg, finanziato dall’UE, riunisce vari esperti per sviluppare tecnologie in grado di sbloccare il pieno potenziale della chirurgia mininvasiva assistita da robot. In particolare, il progetto si concentra su tre scenari chirurgici di fondamentale importanza: urologia, chirurgia vascolare e chirurgia ortopedica dei tessuti molli. Il team responsabile svilupperà diverse tecnologie all’avanguardia, tra cui strumenti antropomorfi dotati di maggiore destrezza, master multisensoriali indossabili per i teleinterventi e occhiali intelligenti.
Obiettivo
Robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery (RAMIS) offers many advantages when compared to traditional MIS, including improved vision, precision and dexterity. While the popularity of RAMIS is steadily increasing, the potential for improving patient outcomes and penetrating into many procedures is not fully realised, largely because of serious limitations in the current instrumentation, control and feedback to the surgeon. Specifically, restricted access, lack of force feedback, and use of rigid tools in confined spaces filled with organs pose challenges to full adoption. We aim to develop novel technology to overcome barriers to expansion of RAMIS to more procedures, focusing on real-world surgical scenarios of urology, vascular surgery, and soft tissue orthopaedic surgery. A team of highly experienced clinical, academic, and industrial partners will collaborate to develop: i) dexterous anthropomorphic instruments with minimal cognitive demand ii) a range of bespoke end-effectors with embedded surgical tools using additive manufacturing methods for rapid prototyping and testing utilizing a user-centred approach, iii) wearable multi-sensory master for tele-operation to optimise perception and action and iv) wearable smart glasses for augmented reality guidance of the surgeon based on real-time 3D reconstruction of the surgical field, utilising dynamic active constraints and restricting the instruments to safe regions. The demonstration platform will be based on commercial robotic manipulators enhanced with the SMARTsurg advanced hardware and software features. Testing will be performed on laboratory phantoms with surgeons to bring the technology closer to exploitation and to validate acceptance by clinicians. The study will benefit patients, surgeons and health providers, by promoting safety and ergonomics as well as reducing costs. Furthermore, there is a potential to improve complex remote handling procedures in other domains beyond RAMIS.
Campo scientifico
Programma(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinatore
BS16 1QY Bristol
Regno Unito