Micro-scale aerosol jet printing of superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticle patterns

Creating custom patterns of magnetic nanoparticles on flexible substrates may enable new opportunities in early diagnosis and personalised treatment of life-threatening diseases. In this collaboration led by the Future Manufacturing Processes Research Group at the University of Leeds, we demonstrated for the first time that Aerosol Jet Printing can be leveraged to reliably print large-area, […]

Towards Autonomous Robotic Minimally Invasive Ultrasound Scanning and Vessel Reconstruction on Non-Planar Surfaces

In our recently published work, we explore the challenges and a potential solution for enabling autonomous intracorporeal Ultrasound (US) scanning during robotic surgery. Enabled by a novel kinematic sensor-fusion scheme, we demonstrate the autonomous navigation and probe reorientation along a phantom hepatic vessel structure. Check out our paper for in-depth results and future directions of […]

Collaborative Magnetic Manipulation via Two Robotically Actuated Permanent Magnets

What happens if you place two large magnets at the end effector of two serial robots? How many independent degrees of freedom can be magnetically controlled in the central workspace? We have explored these and other research questions in our latest IEEE Transactions on Robotics paper that introduces the dual External Permanent Magnet (dEPM) platform. […]

Gordon Research Seminar presentation and the Gordon Research Conference

Michael and Giovanni had the privilege and pleasure to present their work at the first ever Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) on Robotics last week. While Professor Valdastri presented a summary of the progress made by the Tentacles project at the Gordon Research Conference (GRC). Professor Valdastri summarized the event by saying “Cutting edge research shared […]

Magnetic Soft Continuum Robots With Braided Reinforcement

Flexible catheters are used in a wide variety of surgical interventions. In many cases a lack of dexterity and miniaturization along with excessive stiffness results in large regions of the anatomy being deemed inaccessible. Soft, magnetic snake-like robots have the potential to mitigate these issues. Currently, flexible magnetic catheters rely on interactive forces to “follow […]

‘Robotic Autonomy for Magnetic Endoscope Biopsy

The magnetic flexible endoscope team have just published their latest work entitled ‘Robotic Autonomy for Magnetic Endoscope Biopsy’ to IEEE Transactions on Medical Robotics and Bionics. Tissue biopsies taken during colonoscopy are important to aid in the early detection of diseases such as colorectal cancer, Crohn’s and Ulcerated Colitis. Using our magnetic endoscope, developed to […]

Active Stabilization of Interventional Tasks Utilizing a Magnetically Manipulated Endoscope

In this new paper from our Lab (Active Stabilization of Interventional Tasks Utilizing a Magnetically Manipulated Endoscope), we show how intelligent robotics can help with stabilizing the tip of a flexible endoscope and support a gastroenterologist in acquiring a tissue sample during a colonoscopy. This task is crucial for colorectal cancer screening and it often […]

A robot small enough to explore the lungs

Engineers and scientists have paved the way for a robot that can reach some of the smallest bronchial tubes in the lungs – to take tissue samples or deliver cancer therapy. Though still a prototype, the robot can reach the inner recesses of the human body with minimal invasion, a task that has long frustrated […]