We designed and manufactued a novel robotic bronchoscope for sampling of distal lung in mechanically-ventilated (MV) patients in critical care units. The mortality rate for MV patients with suspected pneumonia approaches 40%.

Continuum surgical robots can navigate anatom-ical pathways to reach pathological locations deep inside thehuman body. Their flexibility, however, generally comes withreduced dexterity at their tip and limited workspace. Buildingon recent work on eccentric tube robots, this paper proposes anew continuum robot architecture that combines the flexibilityof push/pull actuated snake robots and the dexterity offeredby concentric tube robotic end-effectors.

This project is on the development of the first medical robotic system for Optic Nerve Sheath Fenestration (ONSF) and generally deep orbital interventions. ONSF is a currently invasive ophthalmic surgical approach that can reduce potentially blinding elevated hydrostatic intracranial pressure on the optic disc via an incision on the optic nerve.

We developed a quasistatic mechanics-based model that describes the shape of concentric tube robotic (CTR) arms when they are eccentrically arranged along an also-flexible backbone. The model can estimate the shape of both the backbone and CTR arms, and can accommodate an arbitrary number of CTR arms arranged in an eccentric position with regards to the backbone’s neutral axis.