Hamlyn Centre for Robotic Surgery

Hamlyn Winter School on Surgical Imaging and Vision - Apply now! 🩺 We're excited to announce the Hamlyn Winter School on Surgical Imaging & Vision. Led by Dr Stamatia (Matina) Giannarou, this week-long program will focus on the technical and clinical aspects of surgical imaging, vision algorithms, AR systems for robotic surgery. Participants should have a science or medical degree and typically be at a master, doctoral or postdoctoral level. Deadline for applications: 29th September 2024 Find out more at https://lnkd.in/gi89Ptnk #HamlynWinterSchool2024 #HamlynCentre

Last Friday marked the completion of my two-month tenure with the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (UROP) at the Hamlyn Centre for Robotic Surgery. During this time, I concentrated on developing a compact, modular, and cost-effective friction-drive mechanism for catheter manufacturing and surgical insertion in cardiovascular procedures. Utilising the advanced Markforged Mark Two and the Stratasys Objet 500 Polyjet 3D Printer at the Hamlyn Centre, I efficiently iterated multiple times and produced a near-final prototype for a part of Alex Ranne's and @Heiko Maier's PhD. This mechanism features a spring-loaded clamping system that accommodates a range of catheter or guide wire sizes with precision. The modular unit, mounted on a rig I built, enables high-precision rotation and driving of catheters, facilitating their etching with a femto-second laser at Sir Michael Uren's Hub. Previously, this process was performed manually, which was not only time-consuming but also inconsistent. The new system I developed significantly enhances manufacturing efficiency, reducing the risk of damage and Heiko’s 18-wire electrode-catheter can now be manufactured to its full design specifications. Recently, Heiko’s electrode catheters, which previously took a full day to process less than a fraction of the laser cuts, can now be produced in just 65 minutes with 34 cuts. Additionally, when paired with another identical unit, the modular driving mechanism transforms into a surgical tool capable of driving both guidewires and catheters, offering a compact footprint compared to the current industry standards, that ensures flexible mounting on patients. Beyond this main project, I contributed to several other initiatives: - A four-segment bevel-tip-needle friction drive platform - A linear stage for laboratory applications. - A mounting platform for a two-segment bevel-tip-needle drive mechanism, designed by Ryan Leung for upcoming gelatin experiments. I am deeply grateful to Prof. Ferdinando Rodriguez y Baena for the opportunity to work at the Hamlyn Centre and for the support of my supervisor, Ayhan Aktas. His guidance, even amidst his own busy schedule, completing his thesis, was invaluable. From our initial meeting through the final day, Ayhan’s support, approachability, and patience were remarkable. A special thank you to Alex for his support and trust in allowing me to work on his project. Collaborating with him and learning about catheter technologies was an enriching experience. I also appreciate all the feedback from Alex and Heiko, which was crucial for refining the design for improving user experience. Lastly, working alongside Levin Meinke and Ryan has been a pleasure. This experience at The Hamlyn Centre has not only been professionally rewarding but also personally fulfilling, and I look forward to staying connected with such an inspiring team. #Research #Engineering #MedicalDevices #Innovation #HamlynCentre #ImperialCollege

Hamlyn Winter School on Surgical Imaging and Vision - Apply now! 🩻 We're excited to announce the Hamlyn Winter School on Surgical Imaging & Vision. Led by Dr Stamatia (Matina) Giannarou, this week-long program will focus on the technical and clinical aspects of surgical imaging, vision algorithms, AR systems for robotic surgery. Participants should have a science or medical degree and typically be at a master, doctoral or postdoctoral level. Deadline for applications: 29th September 2024 Find out more at https://lnkd.in/gi89Ptnk #HamlynWinterSchool2024 #HamlynCentre

This year World Mosquito Day aims to raise awareness on the burden of mosquito-borne diseases and the importance of new tools in the fight against them. Despite tremendous global efforts to control #malaria, progress towards eradication is stalling. Recent figures published by the World Health Organization indicate that the number of deaths for children under the age of 5 has not decreased since 2015.  Parasite resistance to antimalarial drugs such as artemisinin-based combination therapies and vector resistance to insecticides are among some of the challenges responsible for the slowed progress.  As current control measures become less effective, the need for new technologies is essential to restart the fight against malaria. Stay tuned throughout the day for more information on how Transmission Zero is utilizing Gene Drive technology to help stop malaria transmission. #WorldMosquitoDay2024   

UK RAS STEPS aims to empower and support Research Technicians in #robotics and #autonomous systems by fostering ongoing professional development, bringing together and strengthening the community, and raising the profile of #RAS Research Technician careers. Watch the full video to find out more about the programme: https://lnkd.in/eDGmYr3H UK Research and Innovation EPSRC #Technician #Careers

📢 There's still time to register for our upcoming Q&A session on the AI in Science Fellowship programme supported by Schmidt Sciences! It is a fantastic opportunity to learn more about the scheme before applying. 💬 During the session, you will hear from: Eileen Boyce (I-X Centre for AI in Science Manager) Dr Tracy Bussoli (Professional Development Consultant for Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fellows) Andreas Christ Sølvsten Jørgensen (Senior Teaching Fellow) Jonathon Langford (Imperial College Research Fellow supported by Schmidt Sciences) Austin Mroz (Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI in Science Postdoctoral Fellow) Gema Vera Gonzalez 🗓️ Date: 29 August (Thursday) 🕒 Time: 16:00 - 17:00 (BST) 💻 Location: Online via Teams (Registration required) 📝 Register here ➡️ https://lnkd.in/dSTACi-r

AI in Science Fellowships 🚀 If you're looking for a fellowship opportunity, take a look at the AI in Science Fellowships hosted by the I-X Centre for AI in Science. The program aims to accelerate AI research in engineering, natural and mathematical sciences. Take a look at the post below to find out more ⤵

We're thrilled to announce that our website is now live! Check out ukras-steps.org to find out more about our platform to empower and support Research Technicians in #robotics and #autonomous systems and discover how you can get involved. #RAS #Technician #ProfessionalDevelopment EPSRC

Are you a PhD Student or an Early Career Researcher looking to do something over the summer? The EPSRC Emergence Healthcare Technologies Network+ are hosting a Cyber-physical Health & Assistive Robotics Technologies Summer School at the University of Nottingham from 4th-6th September 2024! The Summer School will have a focus on helping participants better understand and engage with the challenges associated with developing innovative, engaging, and ethical intelligent technology-enabled solutions to promote healthy ageing and well-being. This is an exciting opportunity to learn from experts in health and social care, social science, human factors, ethics, and assistive and robotics technology specialists, including potential end-users from PPI groups. Click the link below to find out more ⤵️ https://lnkd.in/eZ8uXmGf

Just back from leave - time to regroup and reflect on what we saw at the Hamlyn Centre for Robotic Surgery and what AI is doing for surgery.... The right application for AI is to supplement, not supplant the clinician. As surgery becomes less invasive, surgery becomes more available and decentralised from the Operating Theatre. AI is developing into a position to support the cognitive load on the clinician and spot things that would otherwise be missed. Dr Noriko Suzuki (Suzuki Noriko) illustrated beautifully where we're headed - AI spotting potentially cancerous lesions in NBI imaging feeds that could have gone unseen. Its not the future - its here today. But its no panacea yet - false positives are high, processing on-prem for real-time requires massive GPUs and Dr Suzuki's complaints as a leading LAP surgeon are still fundamental - procedures are fatiguing physically and demand high-skill. We saw lots on AI in imaging - highly promising, but it has a way to go and in need of excellent integration with robotic systems to become transformative. A view of the future for integration here was demonstration of autonomous navigation and cathertisation of the right heart from digital twins. As these technologies mature and integrate, we'll see a new class of surgery emerge. We're seeing the birth of the surgical autopilot. Beyond taking control, AI has a role to play in man/machine interfacing too and in an interesting exchange we discussed how that might look. AI drawing together multiple cues from the surgeon to guide the procedure....not that Da Vinci and Medtronic's Hugo weren't a delight to play with! I'm interested in the move away from fluoroscopy and reliance on CT and the beginnings of this were out in force: low-cost Ultra-NeRF (great talk from Howie Choset - I love Ultrasound and it has a lot still to give) sparked thoughts of intraoperative image augmentation and mixed-mode imaging driven by AI. Affordable, accessible, miniature hardware with zero radiation dosing is around the corner. We saw the sharp end of that from Intuitive's Sylvain Gioux. To see new technologies commercialised so deftly is an inspiration to us all in the field. There's too much to mention, but it was great for the Surgical Team at PA Consulting to be amongst our people. Thanks to Ferdinando Rodriguez y Baena and the vital work his team do in bringing this event together. We're proud to have all of the skills in-house to bring cutting edge technology to the market where it can deliver for patients and we're fortunate to be part of this community.