Mechatronics in Medicine

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• Conference paper
  Garriga Casanovas A, ’Athif Mohd Faudzi A, Hiramitsu T, Rodriguez y Baena F, Suzumori Ket al., 2018,

  Multifilament pneumatic artificial muscles to mimic the human neck

  , IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics, 2017, Publisher: IEEE

  Pneumatic Artificial Muscles (PAMs) are actuators that resemble human muscles, and offer an attractive performance in various aspects including robustness, simplicity, high specific power and high force for a given volume. These characteristics render them good candidates for use in humanoid robots. The use of traditional PAMs to closely mimic human structures, however, is difficult due to their relatively large size and relatively fixed designs. The recent development of multifilament PAMs enables the realization of humanoid robots that more closely mimic the human anatomy. In this paper, the application of multifilament PAMs to mimic the human neck is presented. First, the main structures of the human neck anatomy in terms of bones, ligaments and muscles are identified and detailed. The design to mimic each of these structures is subsequently described, together with the most relevant parts of the manufacturing process. The integrated neck is then presented, and the method to actuate it is outlined. The results of motion of the artificial neck when actuating different groups of muscles that mimic those in the human anatomy are reported, confirming a motion that is equivalent to that of the human neck. The results also indicate a range of motion of the robot neck somewhat lower than that of its human counterpart, and the reasons for this are discussed. Finally, future directions for improved motion range, stability, durability and efficiency are outlined.

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• Journal article
  Virdyawan V, Rodriguez y Baena F, Oldfield M, 2018,

  Laser Doppler sensing for blood vessel detection with a biologically inspired steerable needle

  , Bioinspiration and Biomimetics, Vol: 13, ISSN: 1748-3182

  Puncturing blood vessels during percutaneous intervention in minimally invasive brain surgery can be a life threatening complication. Embedding a forward looking sensor in a rigid needle has been proposed to tackle this problem but, when using a rigid needle, the procedure needs to be interrupted and the needle extracted if a vessel is detected. As an alternative, we propose a novel optical method to detect a vessel in front of a steerable needle. The needle itself is based on a biomimetic, multi-segment design featuring four hollow working channels. Initially, a laser Doppler flowmetry probe is characterized in a tissue phantom with optical properties mimicking those of human gray matter. Experiments are performed to show that the probe has a 2.1 mm penetration depth and a 1 mm off-axis detection range for a blood vessel phantom with 5 mm/s flow velocity. This outcome demonstrates that the probe fulfills the minimum requirements for it to be used in conjunction with our needle. A pair of Doppler probes is then embedded in two of the four working channels of the needle and vessel reconstruction is performed using successive measurements to determine the depth and the off-axis position of the vessel from each laser Doppler probe. The off-axis position from each Doppler probe is then used to generate a "detection circle" per probe, and vessel orientation is predicted using tangent lines between the two. The vessel reconstruction has a depth Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of 0.3 mm and an RMSE of 15° in the angular prediction, showing real promise for a future clinical application of this detection system.

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• Journal article
  Garriga Casanovas A, Rodriguez y Baena F, 2018,

  Complete follow-the-leader kinematics using concentric tube robots

  , International Journal of Robotics Research, Vol: 37, Pages: 197-222, ISSN: 0278-3649

  Concentric tube robots offer the capability of follow-the-leader motion, which is desirable when navigating in cluttered environments, such as in minimally invasive surgery or in-situ inspections. The follow-the-leader capabilities identified in the existing literature, however, are limited to trajectories with piecewise constant-curvature segments or piecewise helical segments. A complete study of follow-the-leader kinematics is, therefore, relevant to determine the full potential of these robots, and clarify an open question. In this paper, a general analysis of follow-the-leader motion is presented, and a closed-form solution to the complete set of trajectories where follow-the-leader is possible under the assumption of no axial torsion of the tubes composing the robot is derived. For designs with constant-stiffness tubes, the precurvatures required are found to be either circumference arcs, helices, or deformed helices with exponentially varying curvature magnitude. The analysis developed also elucidates additional motions of interest, such as the combination of follow-the-leader motion in a robot segment with general maneuvers in another part. To determine the applicability of the assumption regarding the tubes’ torsion, the general equilibrium of the robot designs of interest is considered, and a closed-form solution to torsion in two-tube robots with helical precurvatures is derived. Criteria to select a desired torsional behavior are then extracted. This enables one to identify stable trajectories where follow-the-leader is possible, for potential application to minimally invasive surgery. An illustrative case study involving simulation and experiment is conceived using one of these trajectories, and the results are reported, showcasing the research.

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• Conference paper
  Favaro A, Cerri L, Galvan S, Rodriguez y Baena F, De Momi Eet al., 2018,

  Automatic Optimized 3D Path Planner for Steerable Catheters with Heuristic Search and Uncertainty Tolerance

  , IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Publisher: IEEE COMPUTER SOC, Pages: 9-16, ISSN: 1050-4729
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  • Citations: 14
• Conference paper
  Tan Z, Forte AE, Parisi C, Rodriguez Y Baena F, Dini Det al., 2017,

  Composite hydrogel: A new tool for reproducing the mechanicalbehaviour of soft human tissues

  , WTC 2017
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• Journal article
  El Daou H, Lord B, Amis A, Rodriguez y Baena Fet al., 2017,

  Assessment of pose repeatability and specimen repositioning of a robotic joint testing platform

  , MEDICAL ENGINEERING & PHYSICS, Vol: 47, Pages: 210-213, ISSN: 1350-4533

  This paper describes the quantitative assessment of a robotic testing platform, consisting of an industrial robot and a universal force-moment sensor, via the design of fixtures used to hold the tibia and femur of cadaveric knees. This platform was used to study the contributions of different soft tissues and the ability of implants and reconstruction surgeries to restore normal joint functions, in previously published literature.To compare different conditions of human joints, it is essential to reposition specimens with high precision after they have been removed for a surgical procedure. Methods and experiments carried out to determine the pose repeatability and measure errors in repositioning specimens are presented. This was achieved using an optical tracking system (fusion Track 500, Atracsys Switzerland) to measure the position and orientation of bespoke rigid body markers attached to the tibial and femoral pots after removing and reinstalling them inside the rigs. The pose repeatability was then evaluated by controlling the robotic platform to move a knee joint repeatedly to/from a given pose while tracking the position and orientation of a rigid body marker attached to the tibial fixture.The results showed that the proposed design ensured a high repeatability in repositioning the pots with standard deviations for the computed distance and angle between the pots at both ends of the joint equal to 0.1 mm, 0.01 mm, 0.13° and 0.03° for the tibial and femoral fixtures respectively. Therefore, it is possible to remove and re-setup a joint with high precision. The results also showed that the errors in repositioning the robotic platform (that is: specimen path repeatability) were 0.11 mm and 0.12°, respectively.

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• Conference paper
  Tan Z, Bernardini A, Konstantinou I, Forte AE, Galvan S, Van Wachem B, Dini D, Rodriguez Y Baena Fet al., 2017,

  Diffusion Measurement and Modelling

  , European Robotics Forum 2017
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• Conference paper
  Burrows C, Liu F, Leibinger A, Secoli R, Rodriguez y Baena Fet al., 2017,

  Multi-target Planar Needle Steering with a Bio-inspired Needle Design

  , 1st International Conference of IFToMM ITALY (IFIT), Publisher: Springer, Pages: 51-60, ISSN: 2211-0984

  Percutaneous intervention is common practice in many diagnostic and therapeutic surgical procedures. Needle steering research aims to extend these by enabling therapies that are not possible with a straight rigid needle. Being able to address multiple targets in one insertion is an example of such a therapy, which would result in reduced overall trauma to the patient and surgery time. However, needle steering remains challenging, as soft tissue is highly compliant and deformable, and thus difficult to interact with. In this work, we develop a new biologically inspired needle design (4 mm outside diameter) and show its capabilities in multiple moving target scenarios. In vitro results in gelatin demonstrate accurate 2D tracking of two virtual targets over 3 target movement rates.

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• Conference paper
  Garriga-Casanovas A, Faudzi AAM, Hiramitsu T, Rodriguez y Baena F, Suzumori Ket al., 2017,

  Multifilament Pneumatic Artificial Muscles to Mimic the Human Neck

  , IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO), Publisher: IEEE, Pages: 809-816
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  • Citations: 12
• Journal article
  Leibinger A, Forte AE, Tan Z, Oldfield MJ, Beyrau F, Dini D, Rodriguez y Baena Fet al., 2016,

  Erratum to: Soft Tissue Phantoms for Realistic Needle Insertion: A Comparative Study (Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 10.1007/s10439-015-1523-0)

  , Annals of Biomedical Engineering, Vol: 44, ISSN: 0090-6964

  Reference 4 should be changed to: Forte, A. E., S. Galvan, F. Manieri, F. Rodriguez y Baena, and D. Dini. A composite hydrogel for brain tissue phantoms. Mater. Des. 227:238–112, 2016.

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  • Citations: 1

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