Flexible robotic device for spinal surgery

Surgical robots have proliferated in recent years, with well-established benefits including: reduced patient trauma, shortened hospitalisation, and improved diagnostic accuracy and therapeutic outcome. Despite these benefits, many challenges in their development remain, including improved instrument control and ergonomics caused by rigid instrumentation and its associated fulcrum effect. Consequently, it is still extremely challenging to utilise such devices in cases that involve complex anatomical pathways such as the spinal column. The focus of this thesis is the development of a flexible robotic surgical cutting device capable of manoeuvring around the spinal column. The target application of the flexible surgical tool is the removal of cancerous tumours surrounding the spinal column, which cannot be excised completely using the straight surgical tools in use today; anterior and posterior sections of the spine must be accessible for complete tissue removal. A parallel robot platform with six degrees of freedom (6 DoFs) has been designed and fabricated to direct a flexible cutting tool to produce the necessary range of movements to reach anterior and posterior sections of the spinal column. A flexible water jet cutting system and a flexible mechanical drill, which may be assembled interchangeably with the flexible probe, have been developed and successfully tested experimentally. A model predicting the depth of cut by the water jet was developed and experimentally validated. A flexion probe that is able to guide the surgical cutting device around the spinal column has been fabricated and tested with human lumber model. Modelling and simulations show the capacity for the flexible surgical system to enable entering the posterior side of the human lumber model and bend around the vertebral body to reach the anterior side of the spinal column. A computer simulation with a full Graphical User Interface (GUI) was created and used to validate the system of inverse kinematic equations for the robot platform. The constraint controller and the inverse kinematics relations are both incorporated into the overall positional control structure of the robot, and have successfully established a haptic feedback controller for the 6 DoFs surgical probe, and effectively tested in vitro on spinal mock surgery. The flexible surgical system approached the surgery from the posterior side of the human lumber model and bend around the vertebral body to reach the anterior side of the spinal column. The flexible surgical robot removed 82% of mock cancerous tissue compared to 16% of tissue removed by the rigid tool.Open Acces

Search for invisible Higgs boson decays in vector boson fusion at s=13s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

We report a search for Higgs bosons that are produced via vector boson fusion and subsequently decay into invisible particles. The experimental signature is an energetic jet pair with invariant mass of O(1)TeV and O(100)GeV missing transverse momentum. The analysis uses 36.1 fb −1 of pp collision data at s=13TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. In the signal region the 2252 observed events are consistent with the background estimation. Assuming a 125GeV scalar particle with Standard Model cross sections, the upper limit on the branching fraction of the Higgs boson decay into invisible particles is 0.37 at 95% confidence level where 0.28 was expected. This limit is interpreted in Higgs portal models to set bounds on the WIMP–nucleon scattering cross section. We also consider invisible decays of additional scalar bosons with masses up to 3TeV for which the upper limits on the cross section times branching fraction are in the range of 0.3–1.7pb. </p

Creativity as a Part of the Post-Pandemic Architectural Education: A Brief Discussion

The current study discusses the importance of the creativity in architectural education, with a focus on the challenges and their implications on students, educators, and institutions. This study revisits a vision of an educational model for post-pandemic architecture education and discuss the necessary approaches for educators and educational institutions to foster creativity. This study directly reacts to the demand on the pandemic's effect on conventional education by using an instructional approach. This paper contributes to reconceptualizing of a novel approach that is targeted to tackle architectural education challenges in a post pandemic age through foster creativity models. The proposed creativity models are creative and critical thinking, neutral and positive stress, and objective-based creativity. These models are further developed using a thematic analysis process to be integrated in the educational model

Custom Fit Non-Invasive Ventilation Mask with Microclimate Monitor: Preliminary Study

Mask and interface design have been emphasized in previous research in relation to Non-invasive Ventilation (NIV) and pressure ulcer prevention. A number of variables contribute to necrosis, but critical research has shown that the skin-mask interface is the most important. The goal of this study is to determine whether preexisting ventilation mask designs can be modified in order to improve clinical outcomes. A Custom-Fit ventilation Mask (CFM) was created using 3D scanning and printer technology. A disposable, custom-fit cushion has been fabricated in order to integrate with a pre-existing mask. A mask is equipped with embedded sensors that measure the microclimate between the skin and the mask as precisely as possible. Real-time data is plotted and monitored for critical conditions and to identify other key features. A preliminary Temperature-Humidity (T-H) monitoring of the skin-mask interface shows fluctuation trends that could potentially induce PUs. However, there is a less sensitive reaction in the original mask test

A Wearable Pad for Detecting and Monitoring Heel Pressure Ulcer: Preliminary Study

This paper addresses a critical gap in wearable sensors for pressure ulcer monitoring, focusing on heel pressure ulcer, a high-risk area. In This study, a wearable pad for monitoring pressure ulcers on bedridden patients was developed. The pad integrates pressure and temperature sensors into a comfortable fabric bandage, allowing for data collection and analysis. Machine algorithms classify sensor readings as healthy or risky, with a user-friendly display communicating the risk level. The wearable pad is tested on three individuals, recording the difference between a heel without pressure ulcer and one with an existing pressure ulcer. The successful development and validation of this wearable sensor pad could revolutionize early detection and prevention strategies for bedridden patients, improving health outcomes and reducing healthcare costs

Design of a Wearable Fingertip Haptic Device: Investigating Materials of Varying Stiffness for Mapping the Variable Compliance Platform

Previously, a pneumatic design of a fingertip haptic device (FHD) was developed for virtual reality applications. In this paper, the feasibility of representing tissues of varying stiffness is investigated. Physical properties, stiffness and Young’s modulus of the variable compliance platform (VCP) were compared with a set of bolus materials representing soft tissues. Young’s moduli of the bolus materials were ten times higher than those from the VCP, whereas the stiffness was fairly similar. Hence, stiffness is the common parameter that could be used to map the FHD to the bolus materials

A Novel Mechanical Design of a Wearable Fingertip Haptic Device for Remote Meniscus Palpation

A pneumatic model of a fingertip haptic device (FHD) had been previously tested in virtual reality allowing the perception of different materials with a promising result. However, numerous drawbacks were noted in this design, including bulky size, less portability, and discomfort. In this paper, FHD is redesigned to provide haptic feedback for human meniscus palpation. A user study was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the redesigned FHD. The study showed that the redesigned model could successfully provide a more evident perception of different stiffness levels but it compromised the comfort of the user when mounted on the finger for long periods