MechE PhD Prospectus Defense: Arincheyan Gerald

TITLE: Soft Sensing and Haptics to Improve Minimally Invasive Surgery

ABSTRACT: Minimally invasive surgical (MIS) procedures offer considerable advantages com- pared to traditional surgery such as reduced trauma and improved patient recovery times, as well as higher accuracy and repeatability of surgical tasks. However, many MIS procedures face considerable limitations due to the absence of integrated sensing on surgical instruments, thus making it difficult to discern tool-tissue interactions. MIS systems also often lack direct haptic feed- back provided to the surgeon. Thus, the absence of sensing and haptic feedback in MIS leads to excessive forces on the tissue and resultant damage. This is particularly exacerbated in surgeries that utilize flexible tools, such as colonoscopy. The flexibility of the tool hinders accurate transmission of frictional forces, making it difficult for the surgeon to estimate the force they are applying on the colon wall. This leads to severe adverse events (SAEs) such as tissue perforation, bleeding, and splenic injury. Although some works have attempted to provide sensing and haptic feedback for MIS, there appears to be a dearth of cohesive systems that restore tactile sensation via sensing. This thesis aims to improve the safety and efficacy of MIS endoscopic procedures by integrating multi-modal sensors with haptic feedback. This work specifically focuses on soft optical sensors that utilize light transmission to measure physical deformations, identify bleeding, and detect tumors. We focus on the design, modeling, and fabrication of these sensors and augment them with appropriate haptic feedback solutions. We present a soft optical sensor that can detect bleeding during colonoscopy. The sensor is mounted along the circumference of the colonoscope and measures light attenuation from the presence of blood in its microchannel. We successfully evaluate the sensor in ex-vivo and in-vivo pre-clinical tests. To address tissue perforation in colonoscopy, we developed a pneumatic haptic glove that interfaces with a soft sensor sleeve. This system detects excessive forces during colonoscopy to mitigate tissue damage. Finally, we explore other MIS procedures which could benefit from haptic feedback and sensing, such as remote/robot assisted palpation. Herein, we present a soft optical sensor that can be easily mounted onto robotic arms, to press on tissue and detect tumors.

COMMITTEE: ADVISOR Professor Sheila Russo, ME/MSE; CHAIR Professor Keith Brown, ME/MSE/Physics; Professor Tommaso Ranzani, ME/MSE/BME; Professor Xin Zhang, ME/ECE/BME/MSE; Professor Valeri Frumkin, ME