Ultrasound-guided Continuum Robot for Dynamic Abdominal Interventions in Pediatric Patients

About This Grant

Despite the recent development of many non-invasive or minimally invasive diagnosis techniques, accurate and safe biopsy remains the cornerstone for ensuring precise diagnostic outcomes and facilitating effective treatment for pediatric patients with liver diseases. An ideal liver biopsy should be able to 1) precisely and safely sample the lesion in the liver subject to heart and respiration motion effects and 2) overcome the unique challenges in pediatric patients due to weight, size, and restrictions to exposure. This project supports fundamental research in tentacle-like continuum (soft) robotic needle and ultrasound-based perception to achieve the desired capabilities. In addition to advancing scientific understanding, the developed technology looks to be applicable to a wide range of needle-based procedures such as laser ablation, cryoablation, irreversible electroporation, and brachytherapy. Furthermore, the project will integrate the fields of continuum (soft) robotics, ultrasound, and medicine to create a STEM infrastructure for educating and training K-12, undergraduate, and graduate students, and promoting medical robotics. Continuum robots have emerged as one of the most promising techniques for diagnosis and treatment, but dynamically targeting the moving structures in pediatric patients remains a challenge. In this project, three complementary and interconnected thrusts will be developed to attempt to overcome this limitation. The first thrust looks to enhance dexterity and compactness through a novel continuum robot concept called concentric bevel-tip needle, along with the development of a comprehensive model incorporating friction components and an adaptive path planner for dynamic targeting and obstacle avoidance. The second thrust aims to achieve real-time robot perception by developing a pediatric-specific, deep-learning-based image processing algorithm for needle position tracking and low-contrast target detection using ultrasound image feedback. The third thrust looks to integrate the technical developments in thrusts 1 & 2 and systematically quantify the completed system’s accuracy, efficiency, and safety. Collectively, this project intends to advance the state of the art in interventional continuum medical robotics through innovations in design, modeling, planning, control, perception, and application. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.