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  3. Robotic Endoscopic Suturing

Robotic Endoscopic Suturing

endoscope-with-arms-coming-out
Concentric tube arm extending out of an endoscope.

One of the main active projects for the lab is robotic endoscopic suturing for transurethral radical prostatectomy, which aims to drastically reduce the invasiveness of prostate removal procedures. This procedure is impossible with current endoscopic instruments, which don’t allow for the precision and dexterity required to suture.

We use two concentric tube arms through a transurethral endoscope to suture the urethra to the bladder (anastomosis) back together after a radical prostatectomy. The entire robot is teleoperated by a surgeon, and is supported by a counter-balance arm, enabling the user to manually move and manipulate the robot into position before driving the robot itself.

In our latest breakthrough, we’ve successfully conducted initial experiments using ex vivo squid tissue embedded in a anatomical phantom crafted through 3D printing and silicone casting.This milestone not only advances the realm of robotic surgery but also holds immense potential for improving patient outcomes by minimizing invasiveness and accelerating recovery times in radical prostatectomy procedures.

 

Related Publications:

Conference Papers:

J. A. Shrand, J. F. d’Almeida, T. E. Ertop, N. L. Kavoussi, S. A. Setia, S. D. Herrell, III, and R. J. Webster, III, “A Virtual Reality Framework for Evaluating Concentric Tube Surgical Robot Designs”, in SPIE Medical Imaging, 2023.

J. F. d’Almeida, M. Rox, and R. Webster, III, “Toward Bipolar Electrosurgery with Concentric Tube Robots”, in Hamlyn Symposium on Medical Robotics, 2022.

T. E. Ertop, J. F. d’Almeida, E. Amanov, J. Shrand, N. Nimmagadda, S. Setia, N. L. Kavoussi, S. D. Herrell III, and R. J. Webster III, “Towards Suturing From Within the Urethra Using Concentric Tube Robots: First Experiences in Biological Tissues”, in International Symposium on Medical Robotics (ISMR), 2022.