CNRS-UofT Joint Research Programme

We are delighted that our collaborative project Dual-Arm Continuum Robots for Single-Port Interventions (DOORS) receives support within the 2019 CNRS-University of Toronto Joint Research Programme. This work build upon our collaboration with Dr. M. Taha Chikhaoui, Research Scientist in the Computer-Assisted Medical Interventions Team of the TIMC-IMAG Laboratory at CNRS / Univ. Grenoble Alpes, France.

The funding allows graduate students to travel to Toronto and Grenoble to enable joint research and experiments. We look very much forward to kickoff the project in 2020!

Project Summary

In order to improve the performances and quality of surgical procedures and to reduce their invasiveness, continuum, flexible robots have been studied. Despite their inherent safety, collaborative usage of such robots was marginally investigated. Our goals are to develop original methods and innovative robotic structures that allow safe single-port access for surgical navigation and operation. Our approach builds upon a semi-autonomous system, allowing the clinicians to directly control the most critical part of the procedure, while the most tedious tasks are handled automatically via a control algorithm. This project aims to investigate this approach on a dual-arm continuum robotic structure and evaluate it on an in-vitro clinical scenario through long distance teleoperation. We will consolidate our collaboration with the first transatlantic continuum robot teleoperation.