CAREER: Lifesaving Capsule Robots

Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN

Investigators

Abstract

Capsule robots are pill-sized devices that leverage extreme miniaturization to operate in environments that are out of reach for larger robots. In medicine, capsule robots can enter the human body through natural orifices or small incisions, and perform endoscopy and surgery while minimizing the invasiveness of the procedure. If successful, this research will have an impact on millions of Americans by enabling painless colonoscopy for colorectal cancer screening, allowing pediatric patients to benefit from minimally invasive surgery, and improving the current complication rate in radical prostatectomy. In this project, research in capsule robotics is being integrated with education and outreach by involving three tiers of students, from high school to graduate level. Students will have the opportunity to experiment with a capsule robot educational toolkit and will get first-hand exposure to this new technology. Visits to middle and high schools are being organized to convey the excitement for engineering and robotics, encouraging young minds to engage in STEM disciplines. The goal of this research is to characterize fundamental principles at the intersection of robotics, magnetism, and control which will enable intelligent capsule robots to amplify the diagnostic and interventional capabilities of gastroenterologists and surgeons. Through this project, the science and application of capsule robot architectures, real-time control, and teleoperation of magnetic pill-size devices will be advanced. Further, computationally efficient approximations of the magnetic field and models for capsule-tissue interaction, combined with miniature wireless electronics, will enable proprioceptive sensing techniques that can be effectively adopted in clinical settings. For the first time in magnetically manipulated capsule robots, environmental awareness and proprioceptive sensing will be leveraged to explore the full spectrum of human-robot interaction. This research will advance medical science as well by enabling new diagnostic and therapeutic procedures targeting organs deep inside the human body.