Career Fair and Career Events

Sheila Russo

Boston University

Assistant Professor, ME & MSE

Faculty Host: Sahar Sharifzadeh

Student Host:Kirk Lewis

Refreshments at 2:45 PM

Enabling Advanced Therapeutic Capabilities in Minimally Invasive Surgery: Smaller, Smarter, Softer Robots.

Abstract:

Minimally invasive surgical procedures are currently performed through long, flexible instruments, i.e. endoscopes, which allow navigation towards the surgical target through a remote access port. However the flexibility required for safe navigation conflicts with the forces and dexterity that can be provided distally, and causes the loss of sensor feedback, limiting therapeutic capabilities. Efforts to solve these issues and enable procedures that are currently difficult to perform are limited by the engineering challenges of fabricating distally-actuated, safe, miniaturized, smart, articulated robotic structures. In this talk, I will describe different approaches to millimeter-scale manufacturing technologies that combine soft and flexible materials with precision mechanisms to achieve distal articulation, integrated sensing, and effective force transmission with compliant, back-drivable, and safe robotic devices for minimally invasive surgery.

Bio:

Sheila Russo is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Division of Materials Science and Engineering at Boston University. Prof. Russo completed her Ph.D. degree at the BioRobotics Institute, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Italy. She completed her postdoctoral training at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. She is the founder and director of the Material Robotics Laboratory at BU that aims at bridging the gap between material science and robotics and focuses on design, mechanics, and manufacturing of novel multi-scale and multi-material biomedical robotic systems. Her research interests include surgical robotics, soft robotics, sensing and actuation, meso- and micro-scale manufacturing techniques, and advanced materials.