In this section

Human-Centred Automation, Robotics and Monitoring

We use perceptual methods, AI, and frugal robotics innovation to deliver transformative diagnostic and treatment solutions.

Head of Group

Dr George Mylonas

B415B Bessemer Building
South Kensington Campus

+44 (0)20 3312 5145

YouTube ⇒ HARMS Lab

What we do

The HARMS lab leverages perceptually enabled methodologies, artificial intelligence, and frugal innovation in robotics (such as soft surgical robots) to deliver transformative solutions for diagnosis and treatment. Our research is driven by both problem-solving and curiosity, aiming to build a comprehensive understanding of the actions, interactions, and reactions occurring in the operating room. We focus on using robotic technologies to facilitate procedures that are not yet widely adopted, particularly in endoluminal surgery, such as advanced treatments for gastrointestinal cancer.

Meet the team

Mr Amirhosein Alian
Research Postgraduate

Dr James P Avery
Honorary Lecturer

Mr Junhong Chen
Research Postgraduate

Mr Kaizhong Deng
Research Postgraduate

Dr George Mylonas BEng, MSc, DIC, PhD
Senior Lecturer in Robotics and Technology in Cancer

Dr Adrian Rubio Solis
Research Associate in Sensing and Machine Learning

Dr Jianlin Yang
Research Associate

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Zhao:2020:10.1109/LRA.2020.2969186,
author = {Zhao, M and Oude, Vrielink TJC and Kogkas, A and Runciman, M and Elson, D and Mylonas, G},
doi = {10.1109/LRA.2020.2969186},
journal = {IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters},
pages = {1516--1523},
title = {LaryngoTORS: a novel cable-driven parallel robotic system for transoral laser phonosurgery},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/LRA.2020.2969186},
volume = {5},
year = {2020}
}

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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY - JOUR
AB - Transoral laser phonosurgery is a commonly used surgical procedure in which a laser beam is used to perform incision, ablation or photocoagulation of laryngeal tissues. Two techniques are commonly practiced: free beam and fiber delivery. For free beam delivery, a laser scanner is integrated into a surgical microscope to provide an accurate laser scanning pattern. This approach can only be used under direct line of sight, which may cause increased postoperative pain to the patient and injury, is uncomfortable for the surgeon during prolonged operations, the manipulability is poor and extensive training is required. In contrast, in the fiber delivery technique, a flexible fiber is used to transmit the laser beam and therefore does not require direct line of sight. However, this can only achieve manual level accuracy, repeatability and velocity, and does not allow for pattern scanning. Robotic systems have been developed to overcome the limitations of both techniques. However, these systems offer limited workspace and degrees-of-freedom (DoF), limiting their clinical applicability. This work presents the LaryngoTORS, a robotic system that aims at overcoming the limitations of the two techniques, by using a cable-driven parallel mechanism (CDPM) attached at the end of a curved laryngeal blade for controlling the end tip of the laser fiber. The system allows autonomous generation of scanning patterns or user driven freepath scanning. Path scan validation demonstrated errors as low as 0.054±0.028 mm and high repeatability of 0.027±0.020 mm (6×2 mm arc line). Ex vivo tests on chicken tissue have been carried out. The results show the ability of the system to overcome limitations of current methods with high accuracy and repeatability using the superior fiber delivery approach.
AU - Zhao,M
AU - Oude,Vrielink TJC
AU - Kogkas,A
AU - Runciman,M
AU - Elson,D
AU - Mylonas,G
DO - 10.1109/LRA.2020.2969186
EP - 1523
PY - 2020///
SN - 2377-3766
SP - 1516
TI - LaryngoTORS: a novel cable-driven parallel robotic system for transoral laser phonosurgery
T2 - IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/LRA.2020.2969186
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/76222
VL - 5
ER -