Modular and Cooperative Medical Devices and Related Systems and Methods

The various embodiments disclosed herein relate to modular medical devices, including various devices with detachable modular components and various devices with pivotally attached modular components. Additional embodiments relate to procedures in which various of the devices are used cooperatively. Certain embodiments of the medical devices are robotic in vivo devices

sCAM: An Untethered Insertable Laparoscopic Surgical Camera Robot

Fully insertable robotic imaging devices represent a promising future of minimally invasive laparoscopic vision. Emerging research efforts in this field have resulted in several proof-of-concept prototypes. One common drawback of these designs derives from their clumsy tethering wires which not only cause operational interference but also reduce camera mobility. Meanwhile, these insertable laparoscopic cameras are manipulated without any pose information or haptic feedback, which results in open loop motion control and raises concerns about surgical safety caused by inappropriate use of force.This dissertation proposes, implements, and validates an untethered insertable laparoscopic surgical camera (sCAM) robot. Contributions presented in this work include: (1) feasibility of an untethered fully insertable laparoscopic surgical camera, (2) camera-tissue interaction characterization and force sensing, (3) pose estimation, visualization, and feedback with sCAM, and (4) robotic-assisted closed-loop laparoscopic camera control. Borrowing the principle of spherical motors, camera anchoring and actuation are achieved through transabdominal magnetic coupling in a stator-rotor manner. To avoid the tethering wires, laparoscopic vision and control communication are realized with dedicated wireless links based on onboard power. A non-invasive indirect approach is proposed to provide real-time camera-tissue interaction force measurement, which, assisted by camera-tissue interaction modeling, predicts stress distribution over the tissue surface. Meanwhile, the camera pose is remotely estimated and visualized using complementary filtering based on onboard motion sensing. Facilitated by the force measurement and pose estimation, robotic-assisted closed-loop control has been realized in a double-loop control scheme with shared autonomy between surgeons and the robotic controller.The sCAM has brought robotic laparoscopic imaging one step further toward less invasiveness and more dexterity. Initial ex vivo test results have verified functions of the implemented sCAM design and the proposed force measurement and pose estimation approaches, demonstrating the technical feasibility of a tetherless insertable laparoscopic camera. Robotic-assisted control has shown its potential to free surgeons from low-level intricate camera manipulation workload and improve precision and intuitiveness in laparoscopic imaging

METHODS, SYSTEMS, AND DEVICES FOR SURGICAL ACCESS AND PROCEDURES

The embodiments disclosed herein relate to various medical device components, including components that can be incorporated into robotic and/or in vivo medical devices. Certain embodiments include various actuation system embodiments, including fluid actuation systems, drive train actuation systems, and motorless actuation systems. Additional embodiments include a reversibly lockable tube that can provide access for a medical device to a patient\u27s cavity and further provides a reversible rigidity or stability during operation of the device. Further embodiments include various operational components for medical devices, including medical device arm mechanisms that have both axial and rotational movement while maintaining a relatively compact structure. medical device winch components, medical device biopsy/stapler/clamp mechanisms, and medical device adjustable focus mechanisms

Systematic Design of edical Capsule Robots

Medical capsule robots that navigate inside the body as diagnostic and interventional tools are an emerging and challenging research area within medical CPSs. These robots must provide locomotion, sensing, actuation, and communication within severe size, power, and computational constraints. This paper presents the first effort for an open architecture, platform design, software infrastructure, and a supporting modular design environment for medical capsule robots to further this research area

Smart Camera Robotic Assistant for Laparoscopic Surgery

The cognitive architecture also includes learning mechanisms to adapt the behavior of the robot to the different ways of working of surgeons, and to improve the robot behavior through experience, in a similar way as a human assistant would do. The theoretical concepts of this dissertation have been validated both through in-vitro experimentation in the labs of medical robotics of the University of Malaga and through in-vivo experimentation with pigs in the IACE Center (Instituto Andaluz de Cirugía Experimental), performed by expert surgeons.In the last decades, laparoscopic surgery has become a daily practice in operating rooms worldwide, which evolution is tending towards less invasive techniques. In this scenario, robotics has found a wide field of application, from slave robotic systems that replicate the movements of the surgeon to autonomous robots able to assist the surgeon in certain maneuvers or to perform autonomous surgical tasks. However, these systems require the direct supervision of the surgeon, and its capacity of making decisions and adapting to dynamic environments is very limited. This PhD dissertation presents the design and implementation of a smart camera robotic assistant to collaborate with the surgeon in a real surgical environment. First, it presents the design of a novel camera robotic assistant able to augment the capacities of current vision systems. This robotic assistant is based on an intra-abdominal camera robot, which is completely inserted into the patient’s abdomen and it can be freely moved along the abdominal cavity by means of magnetic interaction with an external magnet. To provide the camera with the autonomy of motion, the external magnet is coupled to the end effector of a robotic arm, which controls the shift of the camera robot along the abdominal wall. This way, the robotic assistant proposed in this dissertation has six degrees of freedom, which allow providing a wider field of view compared to the traditional vision systems, and also to have different perspectives of the operating area. On the other hand, the intelligence of the system is based on a cognitive architecture specially designed for autonomous collaboration with the surgeon in real surgical environments. The proposed architecture simulates the behavior of a human assistant, with a natural and intuitive human-robot interface for the communication between the robot and the surgeon

Proceedings: Aeronautics and Space Science

VARIABILITY IN AGN ABSORPTION LINES BASED ON HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE/COS DATA BALQSO KINETIC LUMINOSITY DETERMINATION WITH C III* MEASUREMENTS BREWSTER ANGLE MICROSCOPY AND CHARACTERIZATIONS OF LANGMUIR FILMS SORTING LIGHT’S TOTAL ANGULAR MOMENTUM FOR COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS THE PHOSPHORYLATION PATTERN OF RPA2, IN RESPONSE TO DOUBLE-STRAND BREAKS, DIFFERS DEPENDING ON THE LOCATION IN THE CELL AND THE PHASE OF THE CELL CYCLE THE DIOPHANTINE EQUATION Ax^4+By^4=Cz^4 IN QUADRATIC FIELDS THE SBML STANDARD TO SHARE COMPUTATIONAL MODELS OF BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS HIGH SPEED ELECTRO-DISCHARGE DRILLING AND WIRE ELECTRODE-DISCHARGE MACHINING OF TITANIUM ALLOYS FOR AEROSPACE APPLICATIONS ROUTING OVER THE INTERPLANETARY INTERNET WIRELESS INTEGRATED RELAY SYSTEM (WIRS) HUMAN REACTIONS TO FLUCTUATING NOISE CONDITIONS AS PRODUCED BY LOW-BOOM SUPERSONIC AIRCRAFT NONINVASIVE, AMBULATORY, LONG-TERM, DEEP GASTROINTESTINAL BIOSENSOR AND IMPLANTER RECONFIGURATION PLANNING OF MODULAR ROBOT UNDER UNCERTAINTY DYNAMIC GAIT ADAPTION IN FIXED CONFIGURATION FOR MODULAR SELF-RECONFIGURABLE ROBOTS USING FUZZY LOGIC CONTROL EARLY STAGE DEVELOPMENT OF A MEDICAL DEVICE FOR NON-INVASIVE MEASUREMENT OF INTRACRANIAL PRESSURE COMPLIANT LAPAROSCOPIC SURGICAL GRASPER MODULAR JOYSTICK FOR VIRTUAL REALITY SURGICAL SIMULATION NOVEL ASSISTIVE LOCOMOTOR TOOL FOR GAIT REHABILITATION IN THE ELDERLY GAIT VARIABILITY HAS NO RELATION TO COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE ON THE PHONETIC FLUENCY TEST EFFECT OF TACTILE STIMULI ON LOCOMOTOR RHYTHM UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH PIPELINE IN MATHEMATICS COLLEGE OF SAINT MARY ELEMENTARY SCIENCE OUTREACH PROGRAM FOSTERING STUDENT AWARENESS ON GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP THROUGH CURRICULAR AND CO-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES AUTONOMOUS RC CAR HIGH-ALTITUDE BALLOON SOLAR PANEL VOLTAGE VARIATION MICROBENTHIC ALGAE DENSITIES IN THE DUPLIN WATERSHED ESTIMATING UNCERTAINTY OF REFLECTANCE AND ERROR PROPAGATION IN VEGETATION INDICES ESTIMATING SURFACE VISIBILITY ON THE U.S. EAST COAST: INCORPORATING THE AEROSOL VERTICAL PROFILE FROM GEOS-5 EFFECTS OF VOLCANIC EMISSIONS ON THE EARTH-ATMOSPHERE SYSTEM OBSERVING THE TRANSPORTATION OF DUST ON EARTH USING MISR ARGOS AND MICROGRAVITY FREE FLYER EVALUATION UNL LUNABOTICS TEAM: DESIGNING A ROBOT FOR THE NASA LUNABOTICS ROBOT COMPETITION DESIGN, BUILD, FLY UNIVERSITY STUDENT LAUNCH INITIATIVE EHD THIN FILM BOILING IN MICROGRAVITY ENVIRONMENTS COMBINING SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS OF FIRE ACTIVITY AND NUMERICAL WEATHER PREDICTION TO IMPROVE THE PREDICTION OF SMOKE EMISSIONS SEARCH FOR ASYMMETRIC INTERACTIONS BETWEEN CHIRAL MOLECULES AND SPIN-POLARIZED ELECTRONS AUTOIGNITION IN AN UNSTRAINED METHANOL/AIR MIXING LAYER ANALYSIS OF THE HST/COS SPECTRUM OF THE MASS OUTFLOW IN SEYFERT 1 GALAXY MRK 279 CHARACTERIZATION OF A 5.8KV SIC PIN DIODE FOR ELECTRIC SPACE PROPULSION APPLICATIONS WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER: DESIGN AND APPLICATION FORCE SENSING OF GRASPING EVENTS FOR MINIATURE SURGICAL ROBOTS UNDERSTANDING WALKING AND BREATHING COUPLING WHEN ABNORMAL BREATHING PATTERNS ARE PRESENT EXAMINING THE QUALITY OF MODIS REFLECTANCE PRODUCTS USING A FOUR-BAND SPECTRORADIOMETER INVESTIGATING LAND AND ATMOSPHERE CHARACTERISTICS DURING THE 2012 CENTRAL PLAINS DROUGHT USING MODIS AND TRMM PRODUCTS A MARXIST APPROACH TO US HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY: A REVIEW AND SUMMARY OF THE HISTORY AND APPLICATION OF MARXISM ON THE FIELD OF HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY IN THE US JOHN COLLIER, ANTHROPOLOGY, AND THE INDIAN NEW DEA

Proceedings: Aeronautics and Space Science

VARIABILITY IN AGN ABSORPTION LINES BASED ON HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE/COS DATA BALQSO KINETIC LUMINOSITY DETERMINATION WITH C III* MEASUREMENTS BREWSTER ANGLE MICROSCOPY AND CHARACTERIZATIONS OF LANGMUIR FILMS SORTING LIGHT’S TOTAL ANGULAR MOMENTUM FOR COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS THE PHOSPHORYLATION PATTERN OF RPA2, IN RESPONSE TO DOUBLE-STRAND BREAKS, DIFFERS DEPENDING ON THE LOCATION IN THE CELL AND THE PHASE OF THE CELL CYCLE THE DIOPHANTINE EQUATION Ax^4+By^4=Cz^4 IN QUADRATIC FIELDS THE SBML STANDARD TO SHARE COMPUTATIONAL MODELS OF BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS HIGH SPEED ELECTRO-DISCHARGE DRILLING AND WIRE ELECTRODE-DISCHARGE MACHINING OF TITANIUM ALLOYS FOR AEROSPACE APPLICATIONS ROUTING OVER THE INTERPLANETARY INTERNET WIRELESS INTEGRATED RELAY SYSTEM (WIRS) HUMAN REACTIONS TO FLUCTUATING NOISE CONDITIONS AS PRODUCED BY LOW-BOOM SUPERSONIC AIRCRAFT NONINVASIVE, AMBULATORY, LONG-TERM, DEEP GASTROINTESTINAL BIOSENSOR AND IMPLANTER RECONFIGURATION PLANNING OF MODULAR ROBOT UNDER UNCERTAINTY DYNAMIC GAIT ADAPTION IN FIXED CONFIGURATION FOR MODULAR SELF-RECONFIGURABLE ROBOTS USING FUZZY LOGIC CONTROL EARLY STAGE DEVELOPMENT OF A MEDICAL DEVICE FOR NON-INVASIVE MEASUREMENT OF INTRACRANIAL PRESSURE COMPLIANT LAPAROSCOPIC SURGICAL GRASPER MODULAR JOYSTICK FOR VIRTUAL REALITY SURGICAL SIMULATION NOVEL ASSISTIVE LOCOMOTOR TOOL FOR GAIT REHABILITATION IN THE ELDERLY GAIT VARIABILITY HAS NO RELATION TO COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE ON THE PHONETIC FLUENCY TEST EFFECT OF TACTILE STIMULI ON LOCOMOTOR RHYTHM UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH PIPELINE IN MATHEMATICS COLLEGE OF SAINT MARY ELEMENTARY SCIENCE OUTREACH PROGRAM FOSTERING STUDENT AWARENESS ON GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP THROUGH CURRICULAR AND CO-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES AUTONOMOUS RC CAR HIGH-ALTITUDE BALLOON SOLAR PANEL VOLTAGE VARIATION MICROBENTHIC ALGAE DENSITIES IN THE DUPLIN WATERSHED ESTIMATING UNCERTAINTY OF REFLECTANCE AND ERROR PROPAGATION IN VEGETATION INDICES ESTIMATING SURFACE VISIBILITY ON THE U.S. EAST COAST: INCORPORATING THE AEROSOL VERTICAL PROFILE FROM GEOS-5 EFFECTS OF VOLCANIC EMISSIONS ON THE EARTH-ATMOSPHERE SYSTEM OBSERVING THE TRANSPORTATION OF DUST ON EARTH USING MISR ARGOS AND MICROGRAVITY FREE FLYER EVALUATION UNL LUNABOTICS TEAM: DESIGNING A ROBOT FOR THE NASA LUNABOTICS ROBOT COMPETITION DESIGN, BUILD, FLY UNIVERSITY STUDENT LAUNCH INITIATIVE EHD THIN FILM BOILING IN MICROGRAVITY ENVIRONMENTS COMBINING SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS OF FIRE ACTIVITY AND NUMERICAL WEATHER PREDICTION TO IMPROVE THE PREDICTION OF SMOKE EMISSIONS SEARCH FOR ASYMMETRIC INTERACTIONS BETWEEN CHIRAL MOLECULES AND SPIN-POLARIZED ELECTRONS AUTOIGNITION IN AN UNSTRAINED METHANOL/AIR MIXING LAYER ANALYSIS OF THE HST/COS SPECTRUM OF THE MASS OUTFLOW IN SEYFERT 1 GALAXY MRK 279 CHARACTERIZATION OF A 5.8KV SIC PIN DIODE FOR ELECTRIC SPACE PROPULSION APPLICATIONS WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER: DESIGN AND APPLICATION FORCE SENSING OF GRASPING EVENTS FOR MINIATURE SURGICAL ROBOTS UNDERSTANDING WALKING AND BREATHING COUPLING WHEN ABNORMAL BREATHING PATTERNS ARE PRESENT EXAMINING THE QUALITY OF MODIS REFLECTANCE PRODUCTS USING A FOUR-BAND SPECTRORADIOMETER INVESTIGATING LAND AND ATMOSPHERE CHARACTERISTICS DURING THE 2012 CENTRAL PLAINS DROUGHT USING MODIS AND TRMM PRODUCTS A MARXIST APPROACH TO US HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY: A REVIEW AND SUMMARY OF THE HISTORY AND APPLICATION OF MARXISM ON THE FIELD OF HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY IN THE US JOHN COLLIER, ANTHROPOLOGY, AND THE INDIAN NEW DEA

Development of A Soft Robotic Approach for An Intra-abdominal Wireless Laparoscopic Camera

In Single-Incision Laparoscopic Surgery (SILS), the Magnetic Anchoring and Guidance System (MAGS) arises as a promising technique to provide larger workspaces and field of vision for the laparoscopes, relief space for other instruments, and require fewer incisions. Inspired by MAGS, many concept designs related to fully insertable magnetically driven laparoscopes are developed and tested on the transabdominal operation. However, ignoring the tissue interaction and insertion procedure, most of the designs adopt rigid structures, which not only damage the patients\u27 tissue with excess stress concentration and sliding motion but also require complicated operation for the insertion. Meanwhile, lacking state tracking of the insertable camera including pose and contact force, the camera systems operate in open-loop control. This provides mediocre locomotion precision and limited robustness to uncertainties in the environment. This dissertation proposes, develops, and validates a soft robotic approach for an intra-abdominal wireless laparoscopic camera. Contributions presented in this work include (1) feasibility of a soft intra-abdominal laparoscopic camera with friendly tissue interaction and convenient insertion, (2) six degrees of freedom (DOF) real-time localization, (3) Closed-loop control for a robotic-assisted laparoscopic system and (4) untethering solution for wireless communication and high-quality video transmission. Embedding magnet pairs into the camera and external actuator, the camera can be steered and anchored along the abdominal wall through transabdominal magnetic coupling. To avoid the tissue rapture by the sliding motion and dry friction, a wheel structure is applied to achieve rolling motion. Borrowing the ideas from soft robotic research, the main body of the camera implements silicone material, which grants it the bendability to passively attach along the curved abdominal wall and the deformability for easier insertion. The six-DOF pose is estimated in real-time with internal multi-sensor fusion and Newton-Raphson iteration. Combining the pose tracking and force-torque sensor measurement, an interaction model between the deformable camera and tissue is established to evaluate the interaction force over the tissue surface. Moreover, the proposed laparoscopic system is integrated with a multi-DOF manipulator into a robotic-assisted surgical system, where a closed-loop control is realized based on a feedback controller and online optimization. Finally, the wireless control and video streaming are accomplished with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Analog Video (AV) transmission. Experimental assessments have been implemented to evaluate the performance of the laparoscopic system

Robotics for Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery: A Review

Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES) involves accessing the abdominal cavity via one of the bodies’ natural orifices, for example, mouth, anus, or vagina. This new surgical procedure is very appealing from patients’ perspectives because it eliminates completely abdominal wall aggression and promises to reduce postoperative pain, in addition to all other advantages brought by laparoscopic surgery. However, the constraints imposed by both the mode of access and the limited technology currently available make NOTES very challenging for the surgeons. Redesign of the instruments is imperative in order to make this emerging operative access safe and reproducible. In this paper, we survey on the state-of-the-art devices used in NOTES and introduce both the flexible instruments based on improvement of current endoscopic platforms and the revolutionary concept of robotic platforms based on the convergence of communication and micromechatronics technologies. The advantages and limitations of each category are addressed. Potential solutions are proposed to improve the existing designs and develop robust and stable robotic platforms for NOTES