Description du projet
Des robots médicaux donnent un coup de pouce aux chirurgiens
Souvent, les chirurgiens doivent réaliser des interventions délicates et extrêmement difficiles, ou se trouvent confrontés à des maladies inopérables. La technologie robotique peut les aider à relever ces défis. Le projet NoLiMiTs, financé par l’UE, qualifiera des principes centraux au confluent de la robotique, du magnétisme, de la fabrication et de la médecine afin de permettre à des robots intelligents à tentacules d’améliorer les capacités des chirurgiens. Minces, évolutifs, fluides dans leurs mouvements et conformes aux trajectoires curvilignes, ces robots à tentacules magnétiques sont envisagés pour la première fois pour ce type d’applications. Les chirurgiens pourront ainsi concevoir des tentacules personnalisés et les créer en fonction de leurs besoins. Le projet poursuit quatre objectifs de recherche: architecture et modèles robotiques; intelligence et commande; conception, simulation et synthèse rapides; et évaluation expérimentale à plusieurs niveaux. Cette méthode réduira les coûts de traitement et améliorera les services de santé publique.
Objectif
The aim of this project is to characterize fundamental principles at the intersection of robotics, magnetics, manufacturing and medicine, which will enable intelligent tentacle-like robots to augment the capabilities of surgeons in reaching deep into the human anatomy through complex winding pathways and treat inoperable diseases.
Magnetic tentacle robots, proposed here for the first time, have the potential to be thin, extremely soft and scalable, and to conform to curvilinear trajectories by leveraging magnetic control over their entire length. The surgeon needing to access difficult to reach targets such as peripheral nodules in the lungs, small diseased blood vessels and regions deep inside the brain, will be able to design personalised tentacles and fabricate them on demand.
My world-leading research team in surgical robotics–to be further consolidated by this grant–will define and explore new robotic architectures, as well as the design and fabrication processes integral to this novel concept. Proprioceptive sensing, combined with mathematical models, will enable intelligent robotic control. Robotic assistance will be context dependent, ranging from joystick-based operation to autonomous control along pre-planned trajectories. An integrated design environment will help systematise and streamline implementation.
The research programme consists of four work packages: 1) Robotic architectures and models; 2) Intelligence and control; 3) Rapid design, simulation and synthesis; and 4) Multi-scale experimental evaluation, embracing different scenarios where control over the entire body of the robot is crucial: lung biopsy, cardiovascular interventions and neurosurgery.
This interdisciplinary research will strengthen Europe’s position in medical robotics and improve public health by reducing patient recovery times, complication rates, and treatment costs, and ultimately saving the lives of patients suffering diseases that are inoperable—and often terminal—today.
Champ scientifique
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencespublic health
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicineanatomy and morphology
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringrobotics
- natural sciencesmathematicsapplied mathematicsmathematical model
Mots‑clés
Programme(s)
Régime de financement
ERC-COG - Consolidator GrantInstitution d’accueil
LS2 9JT Leeds
Royaume-Uni