Magnetic Capsule Robots for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and Abdominal Surgery

Abstract

The talk will move from capsule robots for gastrointestinal endoscopy toward a new generation of surgical robots and devices, having a relevant reduction in invasiveness as the main driver for innovation. Wireless capsule endoscopy has already been extremely helpful for the diagnosis of diseases in the small intestine. Specific wireless capsule endoscopes have been proposed for colon inspection, but have never reached the diagnostic accuracy of standard colonoscopy. In the first part of the talk, we will discuss enabling technologies that have the potential to transform colonoscopy into a painless procedure. These technologies include magnetic manipulation of capsule endoscopes, real-time pose tracking, and intermagnetic force measurement. The second part of the talk will provide an overview about the development of novel robotic solutions for single incision robotic surgery. In particular, a novel surgical robotic platform based on local magnetic actuation will be presented as a possible approach to further minimize access trauma. The final part of the talk will introduce the novel concept of intraoperative wireless tissue palpation, presenting a capsule that can be directly manipulated by the surgeon to create a stiffness distribution map in real-time. This stiffness map can then be used to guide tissue resection with the goal of minimizing the healthy tissue being removed with the tumor.