ENDOTHERANOSTICS RESEARCH CHALLENGES
Endoluminal Navigation
STATE OF THE ART
Limited steering capability
Heuristic design methods
Operation in non-realistic environments
INNOVATION
Fusing function with structure
Simulation-based integrative design
In-situ instrument deployment
BREAKTHROUGH
Design of frictionless, shape-conforming robot integrating sensor and microsurgical tools with embodied AI for navigation and controlled real-time adaptation in constrictive and dynamic environments
IN-SITU HISTOPATHOLOGY
STATE OF THE ART
Polyp detection with no staging
Time-consuming tissue assessment
Limited probe manoeuvrability
INNOVATION
Sensor analytics and machine learning
Large area to be covered by sensing
Probe fabrication and miniaturisation
BREAKTHROUGH
Intelligent and multimodal sensing including wide-field multispectral imaging, photoacoustic endomicroscopy and all-optical ultrasound imaging for in-vivo in-situ detection and characterisation of tissue properties
SUPERVISED AUTONOMY
STATE OF THE ART
Teleoperation with passive compliance
Virtual fixtures in rigid environments
No active control of soft robot and capsule
INNOVATION
Intuitive shared control at multiple scales
AI methods to extract environment data
Visual control for navigation and inspection
BREAKTHROUGH
Human‒machine cooperation with perceptional feedback for model-based and data-driven control of endoluminal navigation and microsurgical tasks in tight/soft environments
MICROROBOTIC SURGERY
STATE OF THE ART
Passive tools with no tissue handling
Monopolar high-frequency probes
No perceptional feedback
INNOVATION
Super-flex high-strength microrobot
Foldable jaws for tissue handling
Real-time intraoperative manipulation
BREAKTHROUGH
Microsurgical robot with bimanual tissue manipulation based on a unique no-energy miniaturised continuum arm design for high-precision sub-mm oncologically-safe excision of polyps in the deforming colon
