Robotics and Control Issues in Minimally Invasive Surgery and Therapy

Professor R. V. Patel

Canadian Surgical Technologies & Advanced Robotics & the University of Western Ontario

London, Ontario, Canada

Abstract - Minimally invasive interventions such as endoscopic surgery are a less invasive alternative to traditional open procedures, in which the instruments (surgical tools and an endoscope) are inserted into the body cavity through small incisions. With minimally invasive surgery (MIS), the trauma to the body, the post-operative pain and the length of hospital stay are reduced significantly compared to open surgery. However, MIS has inherent drawbacks arising from such issues as hand-eye coordination, ergonomics, magnification of hand tremors, loss of dexterity, and limited tactile or kinesthetic feedback. Most of these drawbacks can be overcome by using robotics-based systems for minimally invasive surgery. This talk will first give an overview of the research being conducted on robotics-assisted minimally invasive surgery and therapy at Canadian Surgical Technologies & Advanced Robotics (CSTAR) in London Ontario, Canada. It will then focus on several specific design and control issues related to the use of robotic systems in minimally invasive surgery and therapy. In particular, problems associated with the incorporation of haptics (sense of touch) in robotics-assisted MIS and the development of robotic systems for percutaneous interventions, such as catheter and needle based therapies, will be discussed.

Friday, March 31, 2006

3:30 – 4:30 p.m.

1500 EECS

Biography: Professor R.V. Patel received the B.Eng. degree in Electronics from the University of Liverpool, England, in 1969, and the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Cambridge, England, in 1973. From 1973 to 1998 he held postdoctoral and faculty positions at the University of Cambridge, England, Lund Institute of Technology, Sweden, NASA Ames Research Center, USA, University of Waterloo, Canada, Delft University of Technology, Holland, and the Control Systems Centre, UMIST, England, and Concordia University, Canada. At present, he holds the position of Professor and Tier-1 Canada Research Chair in Advanced Robotics and Control, and Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Western Ontario where he also served as chair of the department from January 1999 to June 2003. Professor Patel has a broad research background with expertise in such areas as design and control of advanced robotic systems; real-time simulation and control; application of virtual-reality and haptics in human-computer interaction; control of manipulators with link and joint flexibility; and numerical and computational issues in control and robotics. From 1991 to 2001, he collaborated with the Canadian Space Agency and Bombardier Inc. on two projects concerned with developing methodologies for the control of single- and dual-arm redundant robotic systems. During the last six years, Professor Patel has been involved with a team of surgeons, physicians, imaging scientists and engineers in a multidisciplinary research effort on robotics-assisted minimally invasive surgery. This research is carried out at CSTAR (Canadian Surgical Technologies & Advanced Robotics), a research centre established by the London Health Sciences Centre and the Lawson Health Research Institute in London, Ontario, and affiliated with the University of Western Ontario. Professor Patel is currently serving as Director of Engineering for CSTAR. He has published over 260 technical papers and co-authored or co-edited seven books on robotics and control. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and ASME. He has served or is currently serving on the editorial boards of several leading journals in the areas of robotics and control systems, including the IEEE Transactions on Robotics, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, the IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, and Automatica.