Platforms for prototyping minimally invasive instruments

The introduction of new technologies in medicine is often an issue because there are many stages to go through, from the idea to the approval by ethical committees and mass production. This work covers the first steps of the development of a medical device, dealing with the tools that can help to reduce the time for producing the laboratory prototype. These tools can involve electronics and software for the creation of a “universal”' hardware platform that can be used for many robotic applications, adapting only few components for the specific scenario. The platform is created by setting up a traditional computer with operating system and acquisition channels aimed at opening the system toward the real environment. On this platform algorithms can be implemented rapidly, allowing to assess the feasibility of an idea. This approach lets the designer concentrate on the application rather than on the selection of the appropriate hardware electronics every time that a new project starts. In the first part an overview of the existing instruments for minimally invasive interventions that can be found as commercial or research products is given. An introduction related to hardware electronics is presented with the requirements and the specific characteristics needed for a robotic application. The second part focuses on specific projects in MIS. The first project concerns the study and the development of a lightweight hand-held robotic instrument for laparoscopy. Motivations are related to the lack of dexterous hand-held laparoscopic instruments. The second project concerns the study and the presentation of a prototype of a robotic endoscope with enhanced resolution. The third project concerns the development of a system able to detect the inspiration and the expiration phases. The aim is to evaluate the weariness of the surgeon, since breathing can be related to fatigue

Roadmap on signal processing for next generation measurement systems

Signal processing is a fundamental component of almost any sensor-enabled system, with a wide range of applications across different scientific disciplines. Time series data, images, and video sequences comprise representative forms of signals that can be enhanced and analysed for information extraction and quantification. The recent advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning are shifting the research attention towards intelligent, data-driven, signal processing. This roadmap presents a critical overview of the state-of-the-art methods and applications aiming to highlight future challenges and research opportunities towards next generation measurement systems. It covers a broad spectrum of topics ranging from basic to industrial research, organized in concise thematic sections that reflect the trends and the impacts of current and future developments per research field. Furthermore, it offers guidance to researchers and funding agencies in identifying new prospects.AerodynamicsMicrowave Sensing, Signals & System

Flexible robotic device for spinal surgery

Surgical robots have proliferated in recent years, with well-established benefits including: reduced patient trauma, shortened hospitalisation, and improved diagnostic accuracy and therapeutic outcome. Despite these benefits, many challenges in their development remain, including improved instrument control and ergonomics caused by rigid instrumentation and its associated fulcrum effect. Consequently, it is still extremely challenging to utilise such devices in cases that involve complex anatomical pathways such as the spinal column. The focus of this thesis is the development of a flexible robotic surgical cutting device capable of manoeuvring around the spinal column. The target application of the flexible surgical tool is the removal of cancerous tumours surrounding the spinal column, which cannot be excised completely using the straight surgical tools in use today; anterior and posterior sections of the spine must be accessible for complete tissue removal. A parallel robot platform with six degrees of freedom (6 DoFs) has been designed and fabricated to direct a flexible cutting tool to produce the necessary range of movements to reach anterior and posterior sections of the spinal column. A flexible water jet cutting system and a flexible mechanical drill, which may be assembled interchangeably with the flexible probe, have been developed and successfully tested experimentally. A model predicting the depth of cut by the water jet was developed and experimentally validated. A flexion probe that is able to guide the surgical cutting device around the spinal column has been fabricated and tested with human lumber model. Modelling and simulations show the capacity for the flexible surgical system to enable entering the posterior side of the human lumber model and bend around the vertebral body to reach the anterior side of the spinal column. A computer simulation with a full Graphical User Interface (GUI) was created and used to validate the system of inverse kinematic equations for the robot platform. The constraint controller and the inverse kinematics relations are both incorporated into the overall positional control structure of the robot, and have successfully established a haptic feedback controller for the 6 DoFs surgical probe, and effectively tested in vitro on spinal mock surgery. The flexible surgical system approached the surgery from the posterior side of the human lumber model and bend around the vertebral body to reach the anterior side of the spinal column. The flexible surgical robot removed 82% of mock cancerous tissue compared to 16% of tissue removed by the rigid tool.Open Acces

Telecommunications and other electronic subsystems of ingestible capsule devices

Ingestible and implantable electronics are devices designed for applications that are utilised to improve patients’ health outcomes by helping in prevention, diagnosis and monitoring of disorders. In their operation, ingestible and implantable devices produce large amounts of data that should be collected continuously and exchanged via radio communication. A major challenge for this communication is the mitigation of data loss. This PhD research addresses different aspects of this challenge by exploring a) the feasibility of Bluetooth in ingestible devices, b) improving the design of 433 MHz antennas for ingestible devices, and c) also on a relevant topic about ingestible and implantable sensors, studying the sensing of multiple gases with temperature modulated single-element gas sensors. The feasibility of Bluetooth is explored through developing a custom Bluetooth device for assessing the signal attenuation of transmissions from standard Bluetooth devices which was tested for a variety of human tissue analogues to imitate their dielectric properties and measure propagation losses. It was revealed that the signal attenuation through the tissues could be tolerated up to around 85 mm and that Bluetooth devices are deemed to be viable for such communications. In the next stage of this PhD thesis, a 433 MHz meandering pattern antenna was designed that could be placed into standard ingestible capsules. This work involved the simulations and measurements of different designs and focused on analysing the antenna return losses and gain patterns under different ambient dielectric conditions. The effect of battery location relative to the antenna patterns was also explored. The acquired data suggested that an optimal design could be obtained that could tolerate the very large shift in dielectric conditions present in different segments of the gut. The data provides a broad perspective regarding the design of meandering antennas for ingestible and implantable devices. In the final stage of this PhD thesis, a temperature modulated single-element gas sensing system was developed to study how the technique of temperature modulation could be implemented for measuring and differentiating multiple gases simultaneously. Using single-element gas sensors reduces the footprint of the sensor electronics, providing more space for communications electronics in ingestible devices. The system was tested for H2 and H2S sensing. The outcomes demonstrated that the technique was feasible and showed the practicality of using signal processing techniques in gas sensing systems. The work presented in this PhD research added to the body of knowledge in the fields of ingestible and implantable sensing devices

NASA Tech Briefs, May 1997

Topics covered include: Advanced Composites, Plastics and Metals; Electronic Components and Circuits; Electronic Systems; Physical Sciences; Materials; Computer Programs; Mechanics; Machinery/Automation; Manufacturing/Fabrication; Mathematics and Information Sciences; Life Sciences; Books and Reports

Sviluppo e realizzazione di un circuito di controllo per la gestione di un modulo di visione hd miniaturizzato per colonscopia

La seguente tesi ha come oggetto la progettazione di un sistema per il controllo e il testing di un sensore di immagine disegnato ad hoc per la colonscopia, l’EYE-TECH1080 e di un chip companion, l’EYE-TECH_DigitalOut, recentemente sviluppati dall’azienda EYE-TECH s.r.l., Spin-Off della Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna. L’azienda ha commissionato tale sistema al fine di eseguire la caratterizzazione ottica ed elettronica dei loro prodotti al fine di testarne le performance e di massimizzarle modificando taluni parametri elettrici, prima di immettere tali chip sul mercato. Scopo della tesi è stato pertanto il design, lo sviluppo e il test di una scheda elettronica che inglobasse il sensore d’immagine e il chip companion e tutta la componentistica elettronica necessaria. In particolare il sistema realizzato è composto da due schede impilate: un development kit della Lattice Semiconductor provvisto di protocollo di comunicazione USB 2.0 High-Speed, memorie SRAM DDR3 ed FPGA per la gestione dell’intero sistema ed una scheda custom, oggetto della tesi, in grado di interfacciarsi con il development kit. Tale scheda è stata progettata al fine di consentire la massima flessibilità operativa, garantendo più configurazioni del sistema. Tematiche di riduzione del rumore e predisposizione per una futura miniaturizzazione sono state prese in considerazione durante la fase di progettazione. Test elettrici preliminari sono stati effettuati sull'intero sistema per verificare la correttezza del design, sono inoltre state verifficate che tutte le specifiche richieste dall'azienda siano state implementate

Ultra-thin and flexible CMOS technology: ISFET-based microsystem for biomedical applications

A new paradigm of silicon technology is the ultra-thin chip (UTC) technology and the emerging applications. Very thin integrated circuits (ICs) with through-silicon vias (TSVs) will allow the stacking and interconnection of multiple dies in a compact format allowing a migration towards three-dimensional ICs (3D-ICs). Also, extremely thin and therefore mechanically bendable silicon chips in conjunction with the emerging thin-film and organic semiconductor technologies will enhance the performance and functionality of large-area flexible electronic systems. However, UTC technology requires special attention related to the circuit design, fabrication, dicing and handling of ultra-thin chips as they have different physical properties compared to their bulky counterparts. Also, transistors and other active devices on UTCs experiencing variable bending stresses will suffer from the piezoresistive effect of silicon substrate which results in a shift of their operating point and therefore, an additional aspect should be considered during circuit design. This thesis tries to address some of these challenges related to UTC technology by focusing initially on modelling of transistors on mechanically bendable Si-UTCs. The developed behavioural models are a combination of mathematical equations and extracted parameters from BSIM4 and BSIM6 modified by a set of equations describing the bending-induced stresses on silicon. The transistor models are written in Verilog-A and compiled in Cadence Virtuoso environment where they were simulated at different bending conditions. To complement this, the verification of these models through experimental results is also presented. Two chips were designed using a 180 nm CMOS technology. The first chip includes nMOS and pMOS transistors with fixed channel width and two different channel lengths and two different channel orientations (0° and 90°) with respect to the wafer crystal orientation. The second chip includes inverter logic gates with different transistor sizes and orientations, as in the previous chip. Both chips were thinned down to ∼20m using dicing-before-grinding (DBG) prior to electrical characterisation at different bending conditions. Furthermore, this thesis presents the first reported fully integrated CMOS-based ISFET microsystem on UTC technology. The design of the integrated CMOS-based ISFET chip with 512 integrated on-chip ISFET sensors along with their read-out and digitisation scheme is presented. The integrated circuits (ICs) are thinned down to ∼30m and the bulky, as well as thinned ICs, are electrically and electrochemically characterised. Also, the thesis presents the first reported mechanically bendable CMOS-based ISFET device demonstrating that mechanical deformation of the die can result in drift compensation through the exploitation of the piezoresistive nature of silicon. Finally, this thesis presents the studies towards the development of on-chip reference electrodes and biodegradable and ultra-thin biosensors for the detection of neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin

Practical investigation of Butler matrix application for beamforming with circular antenna arrays

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Ex-post Liability Rules in Modern Patent Law

This book examines alternative ways of protecting patent rights using the law and economics framework of property and liability rules. Traditional compulsory licenses are compared with the most recent discussions on the choice between granting or denying injunctive relief for patents (ex post liability rules). The debate about strategic behaviour triggered by the patent system, especially in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in eBay v. MercExchange is discussed along with policy perspectives on both sides of the Atlantic. The problem of calculating the level of compensation, which is one of the most important critiques against the use of liability rules in patent law, is also examined in depth. The book concludes by suggesting that a coherent patent system could opt for property rules in general cases while leaving enough space for exceptions and limited liability rules. Curtailing exceptions and limitations to patent rights, including the use of patent liability rules, could otherwise risk stifling innovation and even contradicting the goals of patent law

Actas de las XXXIV Jornadas de Automática

Postprint (published version