Read sections one, two and three in part one here, and sections four, five and six in part two here.
7: Snake-like robot in throat cancer surgery
A thin snake-like robot developed for remote inspection in industrial applications has been adapted for use in throat cancer surgery.
At 5m long and 8.5m diameter and with six degrees of freedom, the Cobra is able to slither into small spaces and manoeuvre around tight bends. Devices such as cameras and lasers can be threaded through the interior to the ‘head’ of the robot to enable it to perform various requirements depending on the application.
“We started our research 10 years ago when Rolls-Royce approached us to develop a robot to navigate inside aero engines to perform remote repair and inspection. Having reached technology readiness level six, the robot has become an important monitoring tool in safety-critical applications,” says Abdelkhalick Mohammad, associate professor in mechatronics at the University of Nottingham, who is part of the Cobra research team.
Two years ago Dr Oladejo Olaleye, a consultant ear, nose and throat surgeon at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, asked the researchers to adapt the robot for use in the diagnosis and treatment of throat cancer. “This is an exciting overlap between robotic engineering and robotic surgery. Sending Cobra down a patient’s throat is minimally invasive as it avoids splitting the jaw and with more accurate treatment it helps improve patient outcomes,” says Olaleye.
“The future potential for Cobra is limitless. Not only can various devices be bolted onto the ‘head’, such as sensors for next-generation AI diagnostics, but it can also be used in other areas of the body, including the chest and bowel.”
8: Wearable ECG monitor for real-time heart health
Patients suffering with heart conditions such as an abnormal heartbeat, known as arrhythmia, often need close monitoring by healthcare professionals. Current options include restrictive and intrusive ECG monitors to detect anything unusual with the heart’s rhythm and electrical activity.
To offer patients comfort and peace of mind, a team at PA Consulting has developed an ECG monitoring system that is simply integrated into the patient’s T-shirt. This discreet device continually monitors the patient’s heart for weeks or months.
Sara Urasini, wearables expert at PA Consulting, says: “Viscero isn’t just about technology; it’s about improving healthcare experiences for doctors and patients. It does away with bulky sensors and invasive set-ups by cleverly incorporating dry electrodes into the garment construction for continuous heart monitoring. It allows its wearer to have the freedom of their everyday life, whilst effortlessly capturing a medical-grade signal that can prevent or monitor heart-rhythm irregularities such as arrhythmia.”
Together with recorded ECG signals, the device also includes an accelerometer and gyroscope to provide healthcare professionals with a fuller picture of the circumstances surrounding an arrhythmia event.
This diagnostic data is sent to an AI-enabled dashboard where doctors can easily identify arrhythmia events without having to scroll through ECG recordings. Patients can view results and correspond with their doctors via a mobile app.
9: Soft robotic implants for drug delivery
(Credit: University of Galway)
Implantable devices offer exciting prospects for tailored drug delivery, such as the correct dosage of insulin to diabetic patients. However, the challenge with these devices, especially for long-term use, is the scar tissue the body naturally creates in response to them.
“If anything foreign enters our bodies, like bacteria, the immune system will immediately attempt to break it down. If it cannot be broken down, like if it’s an implantable plastic device, the immune system will instead wrap it in a connective type of fibrous tissue or scar tissue. This often prevents drug release as the tissue can be dense and impermeable,” says Dr Rachel Beatty at the University of Galway.
Beatty is part of a team from the University of Galway and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that is researching implantable devices. These devices use AI to monitor the formation of scar tissue, which can differ from patient to patient. Then soft robotics is deployed to enable the device to make regular movements, such as inflating and deflating, to help prevent scar tissue from forming.
“So far we’ve successfully shown through computational models how the implant can finely control drug release. We still have more research to do but this approach could generate revolutionary changes in implantable drug delivery for not only diabetes but a range of chronic diseases,” says Beatty.
10: Device continually monitors IV therapy
Most hospital patients are fitted with an intravenous (IV) device, a thin plastic tube inserted directly into a vein for the administration of medication, fluids and blood products.
While IV insertion is a common hospital procedure, IV leakages, known as extravasation, do often occur. This can cause patient harm, drug delivery errors, scarring, nerve damage and possibly even death.
For more than 10 years, Virginia-based ivWatch has been developing a device that is applied to the skin near the site of the IV device to continuously monitor for any signs of infiltration or extravasation events.
ivWatch’s chief operating officer Jaclyn Lautz says: “The lurking dangers of IV therapy can be quite scary, but now, with the addition of continuous patient monitoring, nursing staff and patients alike can have peace of mind.”
ivWatch includes a patient monitor and a smart touch sensor paired with a predictive algorithm. Light signals are emitted from the sensor’s LEDs and into the tissue near the IV site. Reflected light signals are received by the photodiode in the sensor and transmitted for analysis by ivWatch’s proprietary algorithm.
By detecting specific changes between the emitted and reflected light signals, it determines whether conditions indicate that an infiltration or extravasation event may have occurred.
“ivWatch is a necessary aid for any busy nursing staff because it monitors the IV site, alerts clinicians in real time and acts as the first line of defence against IV injury due to its high degree of sensitivity and accuracy,” says Lautz.
Want the best engineering stories delivered straight to your inbox? The Professional Engineering newsletter gives you vital updates on the most cutting-edge engineering and exciting new job opportunities. To sign up, click here.
Content published by Professional Engineering does not necessarily represent the views of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.