Biomedical subjects

Shane M Farritor

Publications and source records attributed to Shane M Farritor.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Endoluminal minirobots for transgastric peritoneoscopy.

The performance of surgeries through small incisions or natural orifices minimizes the invasiveness to the patient as compared to open procedures. However, the constraints on visual feedback and dexterity limit the scope of these procedures. Recent robotic technologies attempt to mitigate these constraints for flexible endoscopy and laparoscopy. Much of the current work in flexible endoscopy is in the development of a fully autonomous endoscope capable of providing the surgeon with better control. Advancements in laparoscopic technologies have demonstrated abilities to improve visualization and dexterity through telerobotics and in vivo robotics. The application of new robotic technologies in flexible endoscopy and laparoscopy to natural orifice surgery promises to further benefit the patient by eliminating abdominal incisions, scarring, and the pain associated with these incisions. The safety and feasibility of such robotic technology has been successfully demonstrated for natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) in animal models.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Mobile in vivo biopsy and camera robot.

A mobile in vivo biopsy robot has been developed to perform a biopsy from within the abdominal cavity while being remotely controlled. This robot provides a platform for effectively sampling tissue. The robot has been used in vivo in a porcine model to biopsy portions of the liver and mucosa layer of the bowel. After reaching the specified location, the grasper was actuated to biopsy the tissue of interest. The biopsy specimens were gathered from the grasper after robot retraction from the abdominal cavity. This paper outlines the steps towards the successful design of an in vivo biopsy robot. The clamping forces required for successful biopsy are presented and in vivo performance of this robot is addressed.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

In vivo robotic laparoscopy.

Laparoscopy reduces patient trauma but limits the surgeon's ability to view or touch the surgical environment directly. The surgeon's ability to visualize and manipulate target organs can be improved using currently available external robotic systems. However, tool tip orientation and optimal camera placement remain limited because the robot instruments and cameras are still constrained by the entry incisions. Placing a robot completely within the abdominal cavity would provide an unconstrained platform that could provide an enhanced field of view from arbitrary angles and dexterous manipulators not constrained by the abdominal wall fulcrum effect. Several in vivo robots have been developed and successfully tested in a porcine model. These in vivo robots have been used to observe trocar and tool insertions and placement, and to provide additional camera angles that improved surgical visualization. Equipped with a grasper, such robots will provide task assistance. These in vivo robots will be much less expensive than the current generation of large external robotic surgical systems and will ultimately allow a surgeon to be a remote first responder irrespective of the location of the patient.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Toward in vivo mobility.

Today's laparoscopic tools impose severe ergonomic limitations and are constrained to only four degrees of freedom. These constraints limit the surgeon's ability to orient the tool tips arbitrarily, and can contribute to a variety of complications. Robots external to the patient have been used to aid in the manipulation of the tools and improve dexterity. However, these robots are expensive, bulky, and are used for only select procedures. In vivo robotic assistants have the potential to enhance the capabilities of the surgeon, reduce costs, and reduce patient trauma. The motion of these in vivo robots will not be constrained by the insertion incisions. Such assistants will need to attain optimal viewing angles by traversing the abdominal organs without causing trauma. This paper presents an experimental analysis of miniature in vivo robot wheels.

Humans↗