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Surgical GPS

 

Kidney cancer affects a significant number of individuals annually (63,390 new cases/year and 13,860 deaths/year). Complete kidney removal is the default treatment for this disease, despite awareness that diminished kidney capacity is linked to serious health issues, such as cardiac disease and mortality. Partial nephrectomy, a tissue-sparing alternative to complete kidney removal, is incredibly challenging, especially in a minimally invasive setting, because surgeons must rely on mentally inferred three-dimensional anatomical relationships based on 2D preoperative images. Thus, this life saving procedure is rarely offered. Our project aims to revolutionize this landscape by developing a three-dimensional image-guided surgical system on the da Vinci surgical robot platform. By granting the surgeons “x-ray vision”, this technology seeks to enhance the accuracy of anatomical localization, dissection, and critical structure isolation, ultimately making minimally invasive, tissue-sparing surgery safer, accessible, and efficient.

Related Publications:

Journal Publications:

  1. P. C. Cannon, J. M. Ferguson, B. E. Pitt, J. A. Shrand, S. A. Setia, N. Nimmagadda, E. J. Barth, N. L. Kavoussi, R. L. Galloway, S. D. Herrell III, and R. J. Webster III, “A Safe Framework for Quantitative In Vivo Human Evaluation of Image Guidance”, IEEE Open Journal of Engineering in Medicine & Biology, 2023.
  2. J. M. Ferguson, T. E. Ertop, S. D. Herrell III, and R. J. Webster III, “Unified Robot and Inertial Sensor Self-Calibration”, Robotica, vol. 41, no. 5, pp. 1590 – 1616, 2023.
  3. N. Nimmagadda, J. M. Ferguson, N. L. Kavoussi, B. Pitt, E. J. Barth, J. Granna, R. J. Webster, III, and D. S. Herrell, III, “Patient-specific, touch-based registration during robotic, image-guided partial nephrectomy”, World Journal of Urology, vol. 40, pp. 671–677, 2022.
  4. N. L. Kavoussi, E. B. Pitt, J. M. Ferguson, J. Granna, A. Remirez, N. Nimmagadda, R. Melnyk, A. Ghazi, R. J. Webster, III, and S. D. Herrell, III, “Accuracy of Touch-Based Registration During Robotic, Image-Guided Partial Nephrectomy Before and After Tumor Resection in Validated Phantoms”, Journal of Endourology, vol. 35, no. 3, pp. 362-368, 2021.
  5. J. M. Ferguson, E. B. Pitt, A. Kuntz, J. Granna, N. L. Kavoussi, N. Nimmagadda, E. J. Barth, S. Duke Herrell, III, and R. J. Webster, III, “Comparing the accuracy of the da Vinci Xi and da Vinci Si for image guidance and automation”, The International Journal of Medical Robotics and Computer Assisted Surgery, vol. 16, no. 6, pp. 1-10 e2149, 2020.
  6. J. M. Ferguson, E. B. Pitt, A. A. Remirez, M. A. Siebold, A. Kuntz, N. L. Kavoussi, E. J. Barth, S. D. Herrell, III, and R. J. Webster, III, “Toward Practical and Accurate Touch-Based Image Guidance for Robotic Partial Nephrectomy”, IEEE Transactions on Medical Robotics and Bionics, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 196-205, 2020.
  7. R. Ong, C. L. Glisson, J. Burgner-Kahrs, A. Simpson, A. Danilchenko, R. Lathrop, S. D. Herrell, R. J. Webster, III, M. I. Miga, and R. L. Galloway, “A Novel Method for Texture-mapping Conoscopic Surfaces for Minimally Invasive Image-guided Kidney Surgery”, International Journal for Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery, vol. 11, no. 8, pp. 1515-1526, 2016.
  8. A. L. Simpson, J. Burgner, C. L. Glisson, S. D. Herrell, B. Ma, T. S. Pheiffer, R. J. Webster, III, and M. I. Miga, “Comparison Study of Intraoperative Surface Acquisition Methods for Surgical Navigation”, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, vol. 60, no. 4, pp. 1090-1099, 2013.
  9. J. Burgner, A. L. Simpson, J. M. Fitzpatrick, R. A. Lathrop, S. D. Herrell, M. I. Miga, and R. J. Webster, III, “A Study on the Theoretical and Practical Accuracy of Conoscopic Holography-Based Surface Measurements: Toward Image Registration in Minimally Invasive Surgery”, International Journal of Medical Robotics and Computer Assisted Surgery, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 190-203, 2013.
  10. R. A. Lathrop, D. Hackworth, and R. J. Webster, III, “Minimally Invasive Holographic Surface Scanning for Soft Tissue Image Registration”, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, vol. 57, no. 6, pp. 1497-1506, 2010.

Journal Abstracts:

  1. R. A. Lathrop, T. T. Cheng, and R. J. Webster, III, “Laparoscopic Image Guidance via Conoscopic Holography”, ASME Journal of Medical Devices, vol. 3, no. 2. 2009.

 

Conference Papers:

  1. P. C. Cannon, S. A. Setia, N. L. Kavoussi, S. D. Herrell III, and R. J. Webster III, “How Insights from In Vivo Human Pilot Studies with da Vinci Image Guidance are Informing Next Generation System Design”, in Hamlyn Symposium on Medical Robotics, 2023.
  2. M. Siebold, J. Ferguson, B. Pitt, N. Kavoussi, N. Nimmagadda, S. D. Herrell, and R. J. Webster, III, “Choosing Statistically Safe, Variable-Thickness Margins in Robot-Assisted Partial Nephrectomy”, in International Symposium on Medical Robotics, 2020.
  3. J. M. Ferguson, L. Y. Cai, A. Reed, M. Siebold, S. De, S. D. Herrell, III, and R. J. Webster, III, “Toward Image-Guided Partial Nephrectomy with the da Vinci Robot: Exploring Surface Acquisition Methods for Intraoperative Re-Registration”, in SPIE Medical Imaging, 2018.
  4. A. L. Simpson, J. Burgner, I. Chen, T. S. Pheiffer, K. Sun, R. C. Thompson, R. J. Webster, III, and M. I. Miga, “Intraoperative Brain Resection Cavity Characterization with Conoscopic Holography”, in SPIE Medical Imaging, 2012.
  5. C. L. Glisson, R. E. Ong, A. L. Simpson, J. Burgner, R. A. Lathrop, R. J. Webster, III, and R. L. Galloway, “Registration Methods for Gross Motion Correction During Image‐Guided Kidney Surgery”, in International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery, 2011, vol. 6(S1), pp. 160-161.
  6. R. A. Lathrop, D. C. Rucker, and R. J. Webster, III, “Guidance of a Steerable Cannula Robot in Soft Tissue Using Preoperative Imaging and Conoscopic Surface Contour Sensing”, in IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2010, pp. 5601-5606.
  7. R. A. Lathrop, T. T. Cheng, and R. J. Webster, III, “Conoscopic Holography for Image Registration: A Feasibility Study”, in SPIE Medical Imaging, 2009, vol. 7261.
  8. E. M. Boctor, R. J. Webster, III, M. A. Choti, R. H. Taylor, and G. Fichtinger, “Robotically Assisted Ablative Treatment Guided By Freehand 3D Ultrasound”, in Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery, 2004, pp. 503-508.

 

Non-Refereed/Invited/Poster/Abstract/Short Papers

  1. E. B. Pitt, J. M. Ferguson, N. L. Kavoussi, E. J. Barth, R. J. Webster, III, and S. D. Herrell, “Intraoperative Guidance for Robotic Partial Nephrectomy Using Surface-Based Registration: Initial Model Assessment”, Engineering and Eurology Society. 2019. Best Paper
  2. D. A. Carnegie, E. M. Boctor, X. Guo, H. – J. Kang, N. Deshmukh, P. Foroughi, E. C. Burdette, R. J. Webster, III, J. Burgner, and M. A. Choti, “Accurate High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Ablation in a Porcine Liver Model Through Integration of Real-Time Image Guidance, Robotic Navigation, and Elastographic Monitoring”, SAGES. 2012.
  3. D. B. Comber, D. Cardona, R. J. Webster, III, and E. J. Barth, “Precision Pneumatic Robot for MRI-Guided Neurosurgery”, Design of Medical Devices Conference. 2012.
  4. D. C. Cardona and R. J. Webster, III, “MRI Compatible Robot with an Active Cannula”, International Exposition for Power Transmission. 2011.
  5. R. A. Lathrop, T. T. Cheng, and R. J. Webster, III, “Laparoscopic Image Guidance via Conoscopic Holography”, Design of Medical Devices Conference. 2009.