What is the best architectural approach to use when developing medical robots? Is it ROS, ROS 2 or other open-source or commercial frameworks? The upcoming Robotics Summit & Expo (May 10-11 in Boston) will explore engineering questions concerning the level of concern, risk, design controls, and evidence on a couple of different applications of these frameworks.

In a session on May 10 from 2-2:45 PM, Tom Amlicke, Software Systems Engineer, MedAcuity will discuss the “Keys to Using ROS 2 and Other Frameworks for Medical Robots.” Amlicke will look at three hypothetical robotic systems and explore these approaches:

• 1. An application based on the da Vinci Research Kit through regulatory clearance
• 2. ROS as test tools to verify the software requirements for a visual guidance system
• 3. Commercial off-the-shelve robot arm used for a medical application

If you attend his session, you will also learn how to create trade-offs with these different architectural approaches and how to validate the intended uses of these architectural approaches to ensure a successful submission package for your FDA, EMA, or other regulatory approval.

Amlicke has 20-plus years of embedded and application-level development experience. He designs and deploys enterprise, embedded, and mobile solutions on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Linux/UNIX platforms using a variety of languages including C++. Amlicke takes a lead role on complex robotics projects, overseeing end-to-end development of ROS-based mobile robots and surgical robots.

You can find the full agenda for the Robotics Summit here. The Robotics Summit & Expo is the premier event for commercial robotics developers. There will be nearly 70 industry-leading speakers sharing their development expertise on stage during the conference, with 150-plus exhibitors on the showfloor showcasing their latest enabling technologies, products and services that help develop commercial robots. There also will be a career fair, networking opportunities and more. 

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The Healthcare Robotics Engineering Forum (HREF), produced by The Robot Report’s parent company WTWH Media, provides engineers, engineering management and business professionals with informed guidance, peer networking opportunities and hands-on access to the latest robotics-enabling technologies. The Forum recently announced its full conference agenda for the May 10-11, 2023 event at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. 

These conference sessions are designed to provide technical professionals the information they need to successfully develop and manufacture healthcare robotics systems. The expo floor will provide attendees with direct access to the latest design and development solutions for producing healthcare robotics technologies and products, with over 150 exhibits and demonstrations on the expo floor. 

Register for full conference passes by March 9 to save $300. Expo-only passes are just $75. Academic discounts are available and academic full conference rates are just $295.

HREF will be co-located with the Robotics Summit & Expo, the world’s premier commercial robotics development event. This multifaceted educational forum is dedicated to addressing the issues involved with the design, development, manufacture and delivery of commercial robots. Also co-located with these events is DeviceTalks Boston, the premier industry event for medical technology professionals. 

The complete agenda for HREF is below. You can also register here.

We gathered in Boston this past May for two full days of expos, keynote sessions, summits & much more! Here's a short recap of some of the demos that attendees got to see.

Join us at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center May 10th-11th, 2023: https://t.co/5TVCT7VTgm pic.twitter.com/OHqYoY3wd3

— Healthcare Robotics Engineering Forum (@HCRoboticsForum) February 1, 2023

Wednesday, May 10, 2023

Opening Keynote: Idea to Reality: Commercializing Robotics Technologies
Howie Choset, Professor of Robotics, Carnegie Mellon University
8:45 AM -9:30 AM

Turning a technology developed inside a lab into a successful robotics company is no easy task. Howie Choset has done this several times with companies such as Medrobotics (surgical robots), Hebi Robotics (modular robots) and Bito Robotics (robot software). Choset will share insights about the robotics startups he founded and best practices for taking technological innovation from an idea to reality.

Breakout Session: How customizable cobot design enables the success of your surgical robotics company
Speakers: Gene Matthews, Senior Product Manager, Kollmorgen; Dr. Jindong Tan, President and Founder, Azure Medical Innovation
11:45 AM – 12:30 PM

Collaborative robots and AI are becoming increasingly important for surgeons to perform repetitive and precise control tasks. But surgical applications have unique performance and certification requirements that are not available in the current cobot market. This presentation aims to help eliminate barriers to choosing customized surgical robots, as well as help surgical robotics companies build out their specifications so that they can focus on clinical applications. This talk will also address critical engineering considerations when specifying surgical application needs on collaborative features, AI integration in the surgical flow, and certification requirements:

• What are the unique requirements for cobots in surgical applications?
• How do key components such as frameless motors determine performance?
• How do cobots and AI-enabled vision impact surgical flow?
• How customized design can impact performance, development cycle, and certification

Breakout Session: Designing Surgeon-Level Haptic Sensing for Surgical Robotics 
Speakers: Robert Brooks, CEO, ForceN
11:45 AM – 12:30 PM

Force and torque sensing play key roles in enabling surgical robotics, including at the tip of the instrument, trocar location/tissue contact, surgeon collaboration and the surgeon interface. During this session, attendees will learn about 13 core specifications for haptic sensors and the current state-of-the-art of what’s possible. This talk will detail best practices for implementing haptic sensors into surgical robots, including:

• Thermal compensation and considerations under surgical drapes
• Grounding & shielding inside ultra-compact robotic joints
• Engineered cable assemblies for high-flex, multidimensional, tight-bend application

Breakout Session: Developing a New Generation of Robots to Transform Care in the Home
Speakers: Mike Dooley, CEO, Labrador Systems
2:00 PM – 2:45 PM

Across the globe, we are living older for longer than ever before. This is creating huge demands on caregivers, healthcare systems and societies overall, where many regions are already experiencing a labor shortage crisis. Robotics can play a significant role in helping people live more independently for longer.

To achieve this, robotics has to transform in at least two major ways. First, we need to develop robots that can scale to be affordable for personal, 1-to-1 use, which is a dramatic change from most commercial robots today. Second, making functional robots operate autonomously in homes requires solving for much greater complexity, with far more diverse and challenging settings and use case scenarios.

In this presentation, Labrador Systems will walk through the design and development of Retriever, a personal robot built from the ground up to operate in the home, lighten the load of daily activities, extend the impact of caregivers, and ultimately help us live more independently as we age.

Breakout Session: Keys to Using ROS 2 and Other Frameworks for Medical Robots
Speakers: Tom Amlicke, Software Systems Engineer, MedAcuity
2:00 PM – 2:45 PM

What is the best architectural approach to use when building medical robots? Is it ROS, ROS 2 or other open-source or commercial frameworks? The answer is, “it depends.” In this presentation, we will explore engineering questions concerning the level of concern, risk, design controls, and evidence on a couple of different applications of these frameworks. Looking at three hypothetical robotic systems, we will explore these approaches:

1. An application based on the da Vinci Research Kit through regulatory clearance
2. ROS as test tools to verify the software requirements for a visual guidance system
3. Commercial off-the-shelve robot arm used for a medical application

Attending this session to learn how to create trade-offs with these different architectural approaches and how to validate the intended uses of these architectural approaches to ensure a successful submission package for your FDA, EMA, or other regulatory approval.

Breakout Session: Human Factor Design Considerations for Healthcare Robots
Speakers: Laura Birmingham, Associate Research Director, Emergo by UL; Alix Dorfman, Managing Human Factors Specialist, Emergo by UL
3:00 PM – 3:45 PM

Although human factors engineering touches many facets of overall system design, at its core, the practice facilitates the interaction between humans and technology; it aligns a system’s design with individuals’ cognitive and physical capabilities and limitations to produce a safe and satisfying user experience. Despite the level of autonomy healthcare robotics technologies might offer, there is always a human element that requires consideration.

During this talk, the presenters will discuss human factors implications and considerations related to the design of robotic healthcare technology used in clinical and non-clinical environments. The talk will describe how robotics disrupts the four key aspects of design analyzed when supporting product development: the system’s touchpoints, intended users, intended use environment(s), and its intended users’ tasks with the system. We will illuminate how such aspects can and should influence design decisions, as well as best practices when conducting research within the regulated medical device industry.

Breakout Session: Position feedback for healthcare robotics
Speakers: Astrid Stock, Product Manager, SIKO
3:00 PM – 3:45 PM

Healthcare robots are quite different from their industrial counterparts. They do not work in fenced-off areas, but rather side by side with their operators. With this in mind, safety, accuracy, and size requirements have become more critical in today’s applications. Reliable control of the robot’s position, alignment and movement is essential. Rotary and linear encoders enable the position feedback of the motor and send vital information to the control.

This talk will illustrate different measurement principles (magnetic, glass, inductive) and explain the advantages of magnetic measurement. It will differentiate between absolute and incremental systems and will discuss the different interfaces from basic incremental TTL to absolute interfaces like CANopen or BiSS-C. Attendees will also learn about trends and requirements for compact designs and highly integrated solutions.

Breakout Session: Motion Control Trends for Healthcare Robots
Speakers: Prabhakar Gowrisankaran, VP of Engineering and Strategy, Performance Motion Devices
4:15 PM – 5:00 PM

In this presentation, we will provide an update on recent developments in motion control technologies, applications, and products that are especially important for designers of medical analytical instruments and operating room equipment.

The emphasis will be on mobile & surgical robotics, patient therapy equipment, and advances in actuators and position sensors that are driving the next generation of motion control applications that deliver more accuracy, lower treatment costs, and improved medical outcomes.

Prabh Gowrisankaran, VP of Engineering and Strategy at Performance Motion Devices, Inc. (PMD), will share his extensive experience in electronic motion control and will lead this discussion designed to be interesting for both engineers and medical practitioners alike.

Thursday, May 11, 2023

Keynote: The Future of Surgical Robotics
Martin Buehler, Global Head of Robotics R&D, Johnson & Johnson MedTech
10:00 AM – 10:45 AM

Johnson & Johnson, one of the world’s leading healthcare companies, gives an inside look at the end-to-end development of its Monarch and Ottava robotics platforms, as well as strategy and innovation cadence across surgical robotics for MedTech.

Breakout Session: Launching Mobile Manipulation Robots in Hospitals
Speakers: Siddhartha Banerjee, Lead Robotics Engineer, Diligent Robotics
11:30 AM – 12:15 PM

It is a long road with numerous hurdles to take a medical robot from an initial idea to a certified product. To achieve this, some important questions must be answered, such as:

• What is the intended use?
• What is the legal framework?
• What are the main risks?
• Which methods can be used to evaluate concepts, develop prototypes and to verify the final product?

This session will give an overview of the essential steps required to turn a product idea into a market-ready healthcare robot. Attendees will be provided with practical advice on how to implement these steps, as well as a European perspective on the regulatory aspects of the product life cycle.

Session: Magnetic Robots for Diagnosis and Surgery
Speakers: Giovanni Pittiglio, Research Fellow, Boston Children’s Hospital – Harvard Medical School
2:00 PM – 2:45 PM

Breakout Session: Using Emulation to Accelerate the Development of Wearable Machines
Speakers: Josh Caputo, Founder, President & CEO, Humotech
3:00 PM – 3:45 PM

Emulation is a concept that will be familiar to anyone engaged in the development of computing systems (or fans of retro gaming), but did you know research & development groups around the world are leveraging the approach to develop more personalized and advanced prosthetics, orthotics, exoskeletons, wearable robotics, and more?

Wearable systems are costly to prototype and difficult to perfect, so it is crucial for this burgeoning industry to reimagine R&D processes to unlock greater efficiency, throughput, and more wildly successful products. Learn more about the opportunities, challenges, and innovative approaches being explored toward developing technology that augments human biomechanics and could one day be accessible to anyone looking to boost their physical performance.

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Jacqueline Hannan, a PhD student in industrial and operations engineering, demonstrates walking with an ankle exoskeleton in Stirling’s lab. Photo credit: Brenda Ahearn, University of Michigan Engineering

Researchers at the University of Michigan have created a responsive ankle exoskeleton algorithm that uses direct muscle measurement to handle changes in pace and gait. The algorithm could potentially support a user who switches between walking and running with ease. 

The researchers hope that the algorithm will bring us a step closer to ankle exoskeletons that help people extend their endurance. In particular, the algorithm could help researchers develop exoskeletons that automatically adapt to individual users and tasks, eliminating or greatly reducing the need for manual recalibration in between each task. 

“This particular type of ankle exoskeleton can be used to augment people who have limited mobility,” Leia Stirling, U-M associate professor of industrial and operations engineering and robotics and senior author of the study published in the journal PLOS ONE, said.

“That could be an older adult who wouldn’t normally be able to walk to the park with their grandkids. But wearing the system, they now have extra assistance that enables them to do more than they could before.”

Current exoskeletons typically have to be tailored to a single user performing a single task, like walking in a straight line. Changing tasks or users requires a lengthy set of manual readjustments. This new algorithm has demonstrated the ability to handle different walking speeds as well as changes in gait between walking and running. 

What sets this control algorithm apart from ones typically used in exoskeletons is that it directly measures how quickly muscle fibers are expanding and contracting. It uses these measurements to determine the amount of chemical energy the muscle is using while doing work and then compares that measurement with a biological model to determine the best way to assist movement. 

Current methods use broader measures of motion to determine how to assist movement, making them less accurate than this method, which measures muscle physiology directly. 

The University of Michigan researchers chose to focus on the ankle because of the key role it plays in mobility. The team found that assisting the muscles in the ankle could have a dramatic impact on our ability to walk further and faster. 

While the team was unable to test on humans because they were working during COVID-19 restrictions, they did use data on existing exoskeleton devices and muscle dynamics to simulate and test their algorithm. During testing, the team made adjustments to make their algorithm more responsive to changes in speed and gait. 

The team’s next step will be to perform tasks on humans. During testing, the team will use ultrasound to measure muscle fibers in real time.

The study was funded by the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering under Air Force Contract No. FA8702-15-D-0001.

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The Monarch platform for robot-assisted urology procedures. | Source: Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon

Ethicon, a Johnson & Johnson MedTech company, today announced the first robotic-assisted removal of kidney stones using the Monarch platform.

Auris Health, an Ethicon subsidiary, received FDA clearance for Monarch for endourological procedures in May 2022. The University of California, Irvine’s UCI Health used the Monarch platform for urology to complete the first procedure.

According to a news release, it’s the first successful robotically assisted, electromagnetic-guided percutaneous access and mini-percutaneous nephrolithotomy procedure. Ethicon said its study involves a collaboration with co-investigator Dr. Mihir Desai from the University of Southern California.

Robotics Summit & Expo (May 10-11) returns to Boston

Martin Buehler, Global Head of Robotics R&D at Johnson & Johnson MedTech, will be keynoting the Robotics Summit on May 11, 2023, at 10 AM. Buehler’s talk, “The Future of Surgical Robotics”, will give an inside look at the end-to-end development of its Monarch and Ottava robotics platforms, as well as strategy and innovation cadence across surgical robotics for MedTech. 

“This clinical study is the first in the world to research and demonstrate the potential for improved navigation, access, clearance and control in mini-PCNL procedures using the Monarch platform for urology,” said Dr. Jaime Landman, chair of the UCI School of Medicine Department of Urology and director of the UCI Health Kidney Stone & Kidney Disease Services. “In addition to potentially helping urologists achieve stone-free patients in a single procedure, this approach could help reduce the need for retreatment after kidney stone removal and decrease risks and complication rates.”

Ethicon’s clinical group led the first case in its clinical study. It aims to collect performance data on robotic mini-PCNL procedures to optimize Monarch and inform training and education.

“The prevalence of kidney stones remains high, and many urologists seek a new treatment option that reduces overall retreatment and complication rates,” Desai said. “In patients who require treatment through surgery, close to one in two will require retreatment within five years.”

About the Ethicon Monarch platform

Ethicon designed the Monarch robot-assisted surgical platform to enable urologists to reach and visualize areas within the kidney with precision and control. The system offers one platform for supporting both ureteroscopic and PCNL procedures.

The Monarch platform for urology allows for navigation through the kidney with a handheld controller. Robotic assistance gives surgeons a way to precisely maintain instrument positions and perform multiple tasks simultaneously. It uses a novel electromagnetic targeting platform to give urologists more precise access to the kidney.

According to Ethicon, Monarch provides 80% less radiation exposure during percutaneous access compared to standard fluoroscopic-guided access techniques. It also offers consistency with fewer needle sticks when obtaining access, the company said.

“After years of work, we are thrilled to be a part of this first clinical series which introduces a new treatment to improve outcomes for patients in need,” Landman said.

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ABB Robotics and the University of Texas Medical Branch’s (UTMB) Life Sciences and Healthcare Lab have developed an automated neutralizing antibody testing system. The robotic system can determine an individual’s immunity to various strains of COVID, and perform other virus testing. 

The system is able to increase the number of neutralizing antibody tests performed from 15 a day to over 1,000 daily. 

“The ability to carry out more daily tests is the key to generating more data on individual immunity profiles that will help control the further spread of the virus,” Dr. Michael Laposata, professor and chairman of the department of Pathology at UTMB, said. “By transforming the rate at which testing can be carried out and eliminating the need for large numbers of laboratory staff being exposed to the potential risk of infection in manual testing, the automated system we’ve developed with ABB provides an accurate, fast, flexible and safe way of meeting our goals.”

Increasing the number of daily tests can help UTMB researchers better understand how effective COVID vaccines have been. COVID’s many combined mutations have made it challenging for researchers to determine the most effective protection for each variant. 

The system aims to detect a SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody without cross-reaction with other infections. The resulting data can be used by the person being tested researchers, and local policymakers to help them make more informed decisions about how to minimize the risk of further spreading the virus. 

“This project is a clear example of how robotics can increase speed and efficiency, while making work safer for the researchers involved,” Daniel Navarro, Managing Director of Consumer Segments and Service Robotics at ABB, said. “Working closely with UTMB, we are combining our expertise [in] biology, lab process, automation and software to develop and deploy an automated robotic solution that significantly advances and informs our response to the COVID pandemic.”

ABB used its RobotStudio offline programming software to model, iterate and test different combinations of lab equipment and robot positions to develop the system. The entire process, from inception to operation, took just 18 months. 

“What we managed to achieve in this project within such a short space of time is extraordinary—many multimillion-dollar companies take several years to create solutions like the one we’ve developed in a fraction of the time,” Juan Garcia, director of Laboratory Services at UTMB, said.

Robotics Summit & Expo (May 10-11) returns to Boston

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This soft robotic wearable is capable of significantly assisting upper arm and shoulder movement in people with ALS. | Credit: Walsh Lab, Harvard SEAS

Some 30,000 people in the U.S. are affected by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, a neurodegenerative condition that damages cells in the brain and spinal cord necessary for movement.

Now, a team of researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) has developed a soft robotic wearable capable of significantly assisting upper arm and shoulder movement in people with ALS.

“This study gives us hope that soft robotic wearable technology might help us develop new devices capable of restoring functional limb abilities in people with ALS and other diseases that rob patients of their mobility,” says Conor Walsh, senior author on Science Translational Medicine paper reporting the team’s work.

Walsh is the Paul A. Maeder Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences at SEAS where he leads the Harvard Biodesign Lab, and he has presented related topics at earlier Healthcare Robotics Engineering Forum events.

The assistive prototype is soft, fabric-based, and powered cordlessly by a battery.

“This technology is quite simple in its essence,” says Tommaso Proietti, the paper’s first author and a former postdoctoral research fellow in Walsh’s lab, where the wearable was designed and built. “It’s basically a shirt with some inflatable, balloon-like actuators under the armpit. The pressurized balloon helps the wearer combat gravity to move their upper arm and shoulder.”

To assist patients with ALS, the team developed a sensor system that detects residual movement of the arm and calibrates the appropriate pressurization of the balloon actuator to move the person’s arm smoothly and naturally. The researchers recruited ten people living with ALS to evaluate how well the device might extend or restore their movement and quality of life.

The team found that the soft robotic wearable – after a 30-second calibration process to detect each wearer’s unique level of mobility and strength – improved study participants’ range of motion, reduced muscle fatigue, and increased performance of tasks like holding or reaching for objects. It took participants less than 15 minutes to learn how to use the device.

“These systems are also very safe, intrinsically, because they’re made of fabric and inflatable balloons,” Proietti says. “As opposed to traditional rigid robots, when a soft robot fails it means the balloons simply don’t inflate anymore. But the wearer is at no risk of injury from the robot.”

Robotics Summit (May 10-11) returns to Boston

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Walsh says the soft wearable is light on the body, feeling just like clothing to the wearer. “Our vision is that these robots should function like apparel and be comfortable to wear for long periods of time,” he says.

His team is collaborating with neurologist David Lin, director of MGH’s Neurorecovery Clinic, on rehabilitative applications for patients who have suffered a stroke. The team also sees wider applications of the technology including for those with spinal cord injuries or muscular dystrophy.

“As we work to develop new disease-modifying treatments that will prolong life expectancy, it is imperative to also develop tools that can improve patients’ independence with everyday activities,” says Sabrina Paganoni, one of the paper’s co-authors, who is a physician-scientist at MGH’s Healey & AMG Center for ALS and associate professor at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital/Harvard Medical School.

The current prototype developed for ALS was only capable of functioning on study participants who still had some residual movements in their shoulder area. ALS, however, typically progresses rapidly within two to five years, rendering patients unable to move – and eventually unable to speak or swallow. In partnership with MGH neurologist Leigh Hochberg, principal investigator of the BrainGate Neural Interface System, the team is exploring potential versions of assistive wearables whose movements could be controlled by signals in the brain. Such a device, they hope, might someday aid movement in patients who no longer have any residual muscle activity.

Balloon actuators attached to the wearable move the person’s arm smoothly and naturally. | Credit: Walsh Lab, Harvard SEAS

Feedback from the ALS study participants was inspiring, moving, and motivating, Proietti says.

“Looking into people’s eyes as they performed tasks and experienced movement using the wearable, hearing their feedback that they were overjoyed to suddenly be moving their arm in ways they hadn’t been able to in years, it was a very bittersweet feeling.”

The team is eager for this technology to start improving people’s lives, but they caution that they are still in the research phase, several years away from introducing a commercial product.

“Soft robotic wearables are an important advancement on the path to truly restored function for people with ALS. We are grateful to all people living with ALS who participated in this study: it’s only through their generous efforts that we can make progress and develop new technologies,” Paganoni says.

Harvard’s Office of Technology Development has protected the intellectual property arising from this study and is exploring commercialization opportunities.

The work was enabled by the Cullen Education and Research Fund (CERF) Medical Engineering Prize for ALS Research, awarded to team members in 2022.

Additional authors include Ciaran O’Neill, Lucas Gerez, Tazzy Cole, Sarah Mendelowitz, Kristin Nuckols, and Cameron Hohimer.

Editor’s Note: This article was republished from Harvard University.

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The Carina surgical robot system. | Source: Ronovo Surgical

Ronovo Surgical announced today that it closed a new round of financing, bringing its total funds raised to more than $50 million since 2020.

Shanghai-based Ronovo develops broad, cross-specialty robotic-assisted surgery (RAS) technology. LongRiver Investments led the latest financing round. Existing investors Lilly Asia Ventures, Vivo Capital, Matrix Partners China and GGV Capital participated. CEC Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor.

Ronovo said it now exits “stealth mode,” unveiling its inaugural Carina robotic platform. Carina, a modular system built on proprietary technology, enables configurable robotic assistance for laparoscopic surgeries across multiple specialties.

Add Ronovo to a host of companies, large and small, that are seeking to take on Intuitive in the soft-tissue robotic surgery space. (Here are 16 surgical robotics companies you need to know.)

The company said its oversubscribed financing round accelerates the multi-discipline clinical trial for Carina. It also expects the funds to strengthen R&D and clinical applications development, as well as bolster its talent base.

Robotics Summit & Expo (May 10-11) returns to Boston

More about Ronovo Surgical and its Carina system

Ronovo developed Carina in collaboration with renowned Chinese laparoscopic surgeons, according to a news release. It addresses numerous pain points in minimally invasive surgeries and provides surgeons with the flexibility to choose the best instruments and the most ideal anatomical access. As such, surgeons can leverage prior laparoscopic training and improve upon their surgical performance, the company said.

The company noted that Carina minimizes equipment footprint to maximize the utilization of operating room space. Surgical teams can choose between three-module or four-module configurations, Ronovo said. Surgeons also have a full suite of instruments from which to choose with Carina.

“We are extremely grateful to our investors for their confidence in Ronovo’s strategy to democratize robotic surgery,” said Dr. John Ma, founder, chair and CEO of Ronovo. “From inception, we have stayed true to our belief that innovation must start from an original pursuit to solve actual unmet clinical needs.”

The post Ronovo Surgical unveils Carina surgical robot platform appeared first on The Robot Report.

The Intelligent Surgical Unit powers the Senhance surgical robot. | Credit: Asensus Surgical

Asensus Surgical has received the CE mark for an expansion of machine vision capabilities with its surgical robot.

The approval expands machine vision for the previously cleared Intelligent Surgical Unit (ISU) of the Senhance system. This regulatory nod makes the expanded ISU capabilities available across Europe, Japan and the U.S. The FDA cleared the machine vision capabilities in September 2021.

According to Asensus, the approval also makes Senhance one of the first surgical robot systems approved through EU MDR.

“We are thrilled to be able to offer these ground-breaking ISU capabilities to surgeons in the EU,” said Asensus President and CEO Anthony Fernando. “Surgeon feedback from the expanded feature set across the U.S. and Japan has been tremendous, and we look forward to partnering with new and existing customers to help bring advanced real-time intraoperative digital tools into operating rooms throughout Europe. This is a significant milestone for the company as our filing included a review of the Senhance Surgical System, both software and hardware, under the new, stricter EU MDR process.

“The fact that Senhance was one of the first robotic platforms to be cleared through the new process, in just under one year, is a testament to both the quality of our team and our technology.”

Robotics Summit & Expo (May 10-11) returns to Boston

About the Asensus Surgical ISU

ISU responds to the surgeon’s commands and recognizes certain objects and locations in the surgical field.

New features include 3D measurement, digital tagging and image enhancement. It also features enhanced intraoperative camera control based on real-time data.

Asensus said European approval demonstrates its commitment to delivering its promise of “performance-guided surgery.” It expects the new features to provide “meaningful support” to surgeons across a range of procedures.

The company also said new augmented intelligence features leverage the future capabilities and potential of the ISU.

“I have used the first generation of the ISU with the Senhance Surgical System, which seamlessly supports human-machine interaction and endoscopic camera control. This second generation of ISU features will bring surgeon support to a new level,” said Dr. Dietmar Stephan of St. Marien-krankenhaus Siegen in Germany. The real-time measurement tools have broad applicability in surgery, and digital tagging will support communication between console and tableside indicating critical structures, e.g. clipping points or staple lines.

“With these new ISU features, I expect that the Senhance Surgical System will be a technology leader in the field of augmented intelligence in surgical robotics.”

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on sister website MassDevice.

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Relay Robotics, a developer of mobile service robots for the hospitality, healthcare, and real estate industries, added three key executives to its product team. Matt Townsend joins as VP of software engineering, Eric Nguyen was named VP of product management and Jason Hu was named senior designer.

“We’re excited to add Matt, Eric, and Jason to our product team just as we’re experiencing rapid growth and interest from some of the largest customers in hospitality, healthcare and corporate locations,” said Michael O’Donnell, Relay Robotics chairman & CEO. “Their 50-plus years of collective experience designing and building award-winning software and hardware products will enhance our strong team and bring new levels of innovation and speed to market.”

Relay Robotics launched in May 2022. It was formed by acquiring Savioke, a developer of mobile delivery robots. The people, intellectual property, the Relay product line, and all customer agreements all came over to Relay Robotics.

Before Relay, Townsend held senior roles at Aspiration (VP of engineering), Kollective Technology (VP of engineering), Amazon (software development manager of Amazon Lab126), Visual Concepts (senior lead software engineer) and Motorola (software engineer intern).

“Matt’s proven ability to grow and manage world-class engineering teams will help us meet the next set of challenges as we scale the business,” said Steve Cousins, Relay Robotics founder & CTO.

Nguyen brings 25 years of product management and operations experience from senior positions at Kollective Technology (chief product officer), Jama Software (VP of marketing and sales development), and Admax Network (director of products and operations).

“Eric’s extensive experience designing and building award-winning software and hardware products will enhance our team and push us to new levels of innovation and customer satisfaction,” said O’Donnell.

Hu brings years of industrial design and user experience work to bear on the unique challenges of fielding robots that work directly with the general public. At the Academy of Art in San Francisco he studied, among other things, human robot interaction design, and has been working with Relay Robotics for years as a consultant.

“We are extremely happy to have Jason full-time on the team as we enter this new phase of Relay Robotics history. He has the background we need to continue Relay’s leadership in designing robots that continually delight people and support our clients in the service industry,” said Cousins.

Robotics Summit & Expo (May 10-11) returns to Boston

The post Relay Robotics expands senior product leadership team appeared first on The Robot Report.

What if you could design and build a surgical robot that helps doctors perform less invasive, more precise operations and achieve better patient outcomes? While the results of any surgery depend on the challenges of the specific case and the skill of the surgeon, better tools support better care.

Here’s how next-generation motion engineering can help you develop the next generation of surgical robots.

Place the arms as close together as possible

Conventional surgical robots include large columns with multiple arms holding a tiny camera and various instruments such as scissors, graspers, needle holders, clip applicators and more. Depending on the surgery, the ideal procedure is performed through a single, small incision that must simultaneously accommodate the visualization camera and any needed instruments.

If you ask any surgeon, they will tell you the ideal angle of approach for the camera and instruments into the incision site is as parallel and close together as possible—both to minimize trauma and to eliminate any discrepancy between the camera view and the angle at which each instrument operates.

Achieving an identical angle of approach is, of course, impossible, as the instruments can’t occupy the same space. Today’s instruments are very thin and compact, however. It’s the single-column, multiple-arm design of conventional surgical robots—plus the sheer bulk of their arm joints—that limits the angle of approach when multiple instruments are deployed. This is the main challenge to overcome when designing the next generation of robots.

Minimize the axial length of arm joints

Standalone arms provide much greater flexibility in positioning compared to the conventional design, allowing multiple arms to be aligned in a plane much closer to parallel. To further approach the parallel ideal, the bulk of each arm must be minimized.

The limiting factor for how closely together the arms can operate is the axial length of the arm joints. You need a motor and gearing system that delivers all the required torque with the shortest possible axial length. Every millimeter saved without compromising performance helps surgeons work more effectively and creates an important market advantage for your surgical robot.

Start with the gearing

High-torque motors with short stack lengths are key to achieving optimum torque while minimizing axial length, total volume and weight. However, beyond the stack length of the motor itself, the gearing and feedback devices also need to be tightly integrated within the joint.

Ultimately, it’s the gearing that translates the relatively high-speed motion of the motor into the lower speed and higher torque needed to move the load of the robotic arm at the optimum speed, precisely position it, and hold the load steadily in place. Because the selection of gearing also impacts the axial length of the joint, this is the place to start in creating your design.

The required speed, performance and load points will determine the appropriate gear set. No matter what ratio is required, this application calls for strain wave technology, also known as “harmonic” gearing.

Strain wave gearing provides three indispensable advantages:

• 1. It enables the most compact axial integration within the joint.
• 2. It offers relatively high gear ratios—typically ranging from a gear reduction of 30:1 to 320:1—to accelerate/decelerate loads smoothly and position them precisely.
• 3. It operates with zero backlash to minimize any unwanted movement that could potentially affect the precision of the procedure or induce unnecessary trauma.

Match the motor to the gearing and thermal requirements

Having specified the appropriate gear technology and ratio, you can select a motor based on the gear ratio, the speed at which the arm must run, and the mass it needs to hold. Thermal rise when operating at typical or maximum load can also be an important consideration, as excessive heat in the tight confines of the joint can damage gearing lubricant, encoder electronics and other components in close proximity. A motor that can deliver full performance at a lower thermal rise is desirable.

Take advantage of the D2L rule

As part of your motor specification process, you can further reduce axial length through an often-overlooked principle of motor design referred to as the D2L rule.

In robotic joint design, the diameter of the motor is typically of minor concern. To enable robotic arms to operate as closely together as possible, you instead need to minimize the axial length. The D2L rule allows you to trade off a larger diameter for a significantly reduced axial length. Here’s how it works.

In the frameless motors used in robotic joints, torque increases or decreases in direct proportion to changes in motor length, but as the square of changes in the moment arm of the motor. In other words, under the D2L rule, doubling the moment arm—and thereby approximately doubling the overall diameter—produces a fourfold increase in torque.

Or, more relevant to surgical robot design, doubling the moment arm allows you to reduce the stack height by a factor of four while maintaining the same torque. This is a huge advantage when your design priority is to achieve the most compact axial length.

For next-generation surgical robot performance, choose next-generation motors specially designed for robotic applications. This will help you accelerate your development time and deliver surgical robots that allow doctors to operate instruments as close together and as close to parallel as possible.

Better tools mean better healthcare and a healthier surgical robotics business.

The post How motion engineering helps develop next-gen surgical robots appeared first on The Robot Report.

The Da Vinci Xi robotic surgery system. Intuitive continues to dominate the space. | Source: Intuitive

Intuitive Surgical released preliminary Q4 results that included a slight revenue miss, though the company expects da Vinci surgical robot procedures to grow at least 12% this year.

The Sunnyvale, California-based surgical robot developer expects fourth-quarter revenue to total $1.66 billion. While that represents a 7% increase from the same period in 2021, it falls just shy of Wall Street expectations. Analysts projected revenues totaling $1.68 billion. The company expects full-year 2022 revenues of $6.22 billion for a 9% increase over the previous year.

Shares of ISRG dipped 4.3% at $259.70 apiece in early-morning trading today. MassDevice’s MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — rose 8.8%.

Worldwide procedures with the da Vinci surgical robot grew 18% compared to the fourth quarter of 2021. This occurred despite a COVID-19 resurgence in China, which impacted procedure volumes in the area, according to a news release. The company also placed fewer da Vinci systems compared to the same period in the previous year (369 vs. 385). Overall placements decreased 6% from 1,347 in 2021 to 1,264 in 2022, Intuitive said.

Despite fewer placements, Intuitive projects da Vinci procedures to increase by approximately 12–16% year-over-year in 2023.

COVID-19 headwinds out of China could prove transitory

The company noted that the COVID-19 resurgence impacted da Vinci procedure volumes in the U.S. and Europe. However, recoveries soon followed. The virus may continue to adversely impact its procedure volumes, Intuitive said.

“Our customers continued to grow their adoption of our training, products, and services in the fourth quarter and for the full year,” said CEO Gary Guthart. “We remain focused on supporting our customers’ drive to improve the quadruple aim in acute interventions.”

Analysts think the procedure volume headwinds prove transitory as they have with previous COVID disruptions in China. They described Intuitive as one of the highest-quality growth names in large-cap medtech.

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Activ Surgical announced that it has completed its first case with ActivSight Intelligent Light, a module that can be attached to laparoscopic and robotic systems to provide enhanced visualization during surgery. 

The surgery was performed on December 22, 2022, at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Matthew Kalady, MD, FASCARS, the Cheif of the Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery at the Wexner Medical Center, performed a laparoscopic left colectomy, which is the surgical removal of the left side of the larger bowel, typically performed because of colon cancer. Dr. Kalady performed the surgery using the colorectal AI mode within ActivSight. 

“While using one of ActivSight’s intraoperative visual overlays, the dye-free ActivPerfusion Mode, I was able to clearly see key critical structures in the surgical site and tissue perfusion in real-time,” Dr. Kalady said in a release. “With the press of a button, the colorectal AI mode was enabled, removing distractions of background signals from non-bowel tissue and clearly focusing on perfusion to the colon. There was a clear difference in visualization during AI mode.”

In ActivSight’s ActivPerfusion mode, the system uses laser speckle technology on the entire view to show blood perfusion. When used with the device’s colorectal AI mode, the system isolates the ActivPerfusion display to the targeted issue, which, in the case of the surgery performed by Dr. Kalady was the colon. This makes it easier for the surgeon to focus on the targeted tissue, and not become distracted by seeing blood perfusion in the entire scene. 

“With this procedure, we have shown that we can deploy proprietary models that have been trained with our datasets, annotated with our experts and our pipeline, and developed with our team and partners,” Activ Surgical CEO Shah-Bugaj said. “We are collaborating with global technology leaders to assist us with optimizing storage, integration, and inference. When all of this advanced tech is installed in the OR, our novel sensing brings it to life, and the results are incredible.”

Activ Surgical is currently conducting a clinical study with the Wexner Medical Center. The study seeks to determine the utility and usability of ActivSight. 

Activ Sight was cleared by the FDA in 2021, and has been used in first-in-human/IRB studies. The module received CE Mark approval in 2022, allowing Activ Surgical to commercialize the enhanced imaging system across the European Union (EU). 

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Hello Robot’s Stretch earned a $2.5 million grant to expand the robot’s capabilities. | Source: Hello Robot

The National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institute of Health (NIH), awarded Hello Robot with a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research grant worth approximately $2.5 million. 

Hello Robot creates assistive mobile manipulator robots that aim to help aging adults with cognitive and physical impairments. With the grant, the company hopes to further develop its Stretch Cognitive and Physical Assistant. 

Stretch is a slender and versatile mobile manipulator that can operate autonomously. Stretch 2, the latest version of the robot, has a 109 cm vertical range of motion, and a telescoping arm that can extend 52 cm beyond its base. The robot’s wrist extends this reach so that the robot can reach the back of a countertop.

Hello Robot hopes that Stretch can be a friendly, affordable and capable helper for older adults struggling with a range of physical and cognitive impairments. 

“Caregiving is in crisis,” Hello Robot CEO Dr. Aaron Edsinger said in a release. “It is becoming increasingly difficult to arrange care for older family members living at home. Robots such as Stretch hold incredible promise to augment the caregiving workforce, allowing loved ones to age-in-place at home for longer.”

The grant builds on a Phase I NIH award. With the previous grant, Hello Robot worked with a research team at the University of Illinois, led by Dr. Wendy Rogers. The team showed that Stretch was able to provide meaningful assistance to an individual with quadriplegia. 

The new grant aims to expand on this previous work and test Stretch’s capabilities in helping people with mild cognitive impairment with both physical and cognitive tasks. 

“This award brings together an incredible team  – working together towards a shared vision where robots like Stretch can enhance life for everyone, including children, older adults, and people with disabilities,” Edsinger said in a release. 

Hello Robot also plans to make changes to its remote control interface so that it can be used by caregivers. The grant will also help the company develop more autonomous activities for Stretch and explore Stetch’s utility in a variety of home and assisted living environments. 

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WTWH Media invites you to submit a session abstract to be considered for presentation at the Healthcare Robotics Engineering Forum, to be held May 10-11, 2023 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.

The Healthcare Robotics Engineering Forum (HREF) provides engineers and engineering management with the technical information and guidance they need to better design, develop and manufacture the next generation of commercial-class healthcare robots.

Event organizers are seeking thought-provoking sessions from compelling speakers in each of the following four tracks:

• Enabling Technologies
• Tools and Platforms
• Design and Development
• Management and Opportunity

Complete track descriptions and topics can be found HERE.

Submission Form
The entry deadline for submitting speaker proposals is January 13, 2023. To apply to deliver a session click HERE.

All speakers receive:

• Complimentary full registration with admission to all keynotes, general sessions, panels and special events
• All breakfasts, lunches and receptions
• Complimentary guest registrations up to two attendees

Co-Located Events
The Healthcare Robotics Engineering Forum will be co-located with the Robotics Summit & Expo, which focuses on the design, development, manufacturing and delivery of commercial-class robots. Also co-located with the HREF event is DeviceTalks Boston, the premier industry event for medical technology professionals, currently in its ninth year. Both events attract engineering and business professionals from a broad range of healthcare and medical technology backgrounds.

Sponsorship Opportunities
For information about sponsorship and exhibition opportunities, download the prospectus. Questions regarding sponsorship opportunities should be directed to Courtney Nagle at cnagle[AT]wtwhmedia.com.

Conference Programming
For questions regarding Healthcare Robotics Engineering Forum conference programming, contact Dan Kara at dkara[AT]wtwhmedia.com.

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Ellen Roche with the soft, implantable ventilator designed by her and her team. | Source: MIT, M. Scott Brauer

Researchers at MIT have designed a soft, robotic implantable ventilator that can augment the diaphragm’s natural contractions. 

The implantable ventilator is made from two soft, balloon-like tubes that would be implanted to lie over the diaphragm. When inflated with an external pump, the tubes act as artificial muscles that push down the diaphragm and help the lungs expand. The tubes can be inflated to match the diaphragm’s natural rhythm. 

The diaphragm lies just below the ribcage. It pushes down to create a vacuum for the lungs to expand into so they can draw air in, and then relaxes to let air out. 

The tubes in the ventilator are similar to McKibben actuators, a kind of pneumatic device. The team attached the tubes to the ribcage at either side of the diaphragm, so that the device was laying across the muscle from front to back. Using a thin external airline, the team connected the tubes to a small pump and control system. 

This soft ventilator was designed by Ellen Roche, an associate professor of mechanical engineering and member of the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science at MIT and her colleagues. The research team created a proof-of-concept design for the ventilator. 

“This is a proof of concept of a new way to ventilate,” Roche told MIT News. “The biomechanics of this design are closer to normal breathing, versus ventilators that push air into the lungs, where you have a mask or tracheostomy. There’s a long road before this will be implanted in a human. But it’s exciting that we could show we could augment ventilation with something implantable.”

According to Roche, the key to maximizing the amount of work the implantable pump does is by giving the diaphragm an extra push downwards when it naturally contracts. This means the team didn’t have to try to mimic exactly how the diaphragm moves, just create a device that is capable of giving that push. 

The implantable ventilator is made from two tubes that lay across the diaphragm. | Source: MIT

Roche and her team tested the system on anesthetized pigs. After implanting the device, they monitored the pigs’ oxygen levels and used ultrasound imaging to observe diaphragm function. Generally, the team found that the ventilator increased the amount of air that the pigs’ lungs could draw in with each breath. The device worked best when the contractions of the diaphragm and the artificial muscles were working in sync, allowing the pigs’ lungs to bring in three times the amount of air they could without assistance. 

The team hopes that its device could help people struggling with chronic diaphragm dysfunctions, which can be caused by ALS, muscular dystrophy and other neuromuscular diseases, paralysis and damage to the phrenic nerve. 

The research team included Roche, a former graduate student at MIT Lucy Hu, Manisha Singh, Diego Quevedo Moreno, Jean Bonnemain of Lausanne University Hospital in Switzerland and Mossab Saeed and Nikolay Vasilyev of Boston Children’s Hospital. 

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