Alberto Arezzo. University of Torino
There is a clear need to increase early diagnosis of colorectal neoplasms to allow more local excisions and perform organ-sparing surgery. Current screening policies failed to reach reasonable attendance by the population as colonoscopy is perceived as uncomfortable and undignified. The rate of the population screened in Europe does not reach even 20%. In 2015 the European Community funded the ENDOO Project within the H2020 Research Program. This is about the development of a magnetic capsule. The Endoo project (Endoscopic Versatile robotic guidancE, diagnoSis and theraPy of magnetic-driven soft-tethered endoluminAl robots) aims at developing an integrated robotic platform for the navigation of a soft-tethered colonoscope capable of performing painless diagnosis and treatment. Built around a novel robotic colonoscope and designed to make its use straightforward for the endoscopist and ideal for mass screening, the Endoo system has the potential to introduce in the clinical practice a disruptive new paradigm for painless colonoscopy. Endoo combines a “front-wheel” magnetic–driven approach for active and smooth navigation with diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities for overcoming the limitations of current colonoscopy in terms of patient discomfort, dependence on operator skills, costs and outcomes for the healthcare systems. The acceptance and consolidation of robotics in the medical domain and the ever-growing development of endoscopic–driven technologies are the fundamental building blocks for the realization of the Endoo platform which can take advantage of solid and IPR protected technologies provided by the Project Partners. The aim of the Endoo Project is to bring the system to the market for extensive clinical use.
Once a reasonable rate of diagnosis of colorectal neoplasms at an early stage will be reached we should be able to offer these patients a minimally invasive (i.e. endoluminal) way of cure. Current endoscopic techniques such as endoscopic mucosectomy (EMR) or endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) failed to prove really effective both for the high rate of complications and the low rate of oncologic adequacy forcing too many cases to subsequent radical surgery. We conceived a Surgical Robotic Platform for Endoscopic Dissection which we called RED (Robot for Endoscopic Dissection). The robotic platform consists of the miniaturized robot, the actuator housing, the control unit and the master console to read in the user intention. The proposed technology is a two-armed robot with a total of six DoFs fixed at the tip of a standard endoscope. The left arm is in the form of a gripper able to grasp and lift the tissue of the patient. This arm is featured by 3 DoFs (i.e., slide, pitch and open/close of the gripper). On the other hand, the right arm is a mono-polar cautery with 3 DoFs (i.e., slide, roll and pitch) employed to cut the lesion. The workspace generated from the DoFs of the two-activated robotic arms covers a large part of endoscope field of view and allows to reach the target area for performing a proper tissue dissection.
Presented at the SAGES 2017 Annual Meeting in Houston, TX.
Abstract ID: 98712
Program Number: ETP780
Presentation Session: Emerging Technology Poster Session (Non CME)
Presentation Type: Poster