Scientists effectively steer autonomous robot through active lung

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Researchers have achieved a groundbreaking milestone by successfully navigating a robot through the intricate lung tissue of a living laboratory model. The goal of the experiment is to make it easier to find, identify and treat lung tumors that are difficult to locate and reach. Findings of the progressive innovation were published in a September 2023 issue of Science Robotics.

To accomplish this breakthrough, scientists from the University of North Carolina’s medical, computer science, engineering and radiology departments collaborated to develop the flexible, semiautonomous robot device. Experts from Vanderbilt University and the University of Utah also contributed efforts. 

“This technology allows us to reach targets we can't otherwise reach with a standard or even robotic bronchoscope,” said Jason Akulian, MD, MPH, co-author on the paper and section chief of interventional pulmonology and pulmonary oncology in the UNC Division of Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine. “It gives you that extra few centimeters or few millimeters even, which would help immensely with pursuing small targets in the lungs.”

The team built the robot with several key components:

·      A nickel and titanium, laser-etched needle provides flexibility and easy navigation around obstacles. 

·      A motorized control delivers regulated thrust of the needle’s forward and backward movements. 

·      A corresponding design allows the needle to move along curved paths. 

·      Optional attachments, like catheters, work with the needle to perform certain procedures, such as lung biopsies.

The research team used thoracic cavity CT scans combined with artificial intelligence (AI) technology to create 3D models of the lung, including airways and blood vessels, that provide the robot with planned routes and selected targets. This allows the needle to automatically travel from point A to point B while avoiding critical structures within the lung. 

“The autonomous steerable needle we've developed is highly compact, but the system is packed with a suite of technologies that allow the needle to navigate autonomously in real-time,” said Ron Alterovitz, PhD, the principal investigator on the project, representing the UNC department of computer science, and senior author on the paper. “It's akin to a self-driving car, but it navigates through lung tissue, avoiding obstacles like significant blood vessels as it travels to its destination.”

In addition to its complex inner workings, the lungs also are an organ in constant motion. Therefore, scientists programmed the needle to account for respiratory movement. When a subject performs intermittent breathing, the robot moves forward with every held breath. 

“There remain some nuances in terms of the robot's ability to acquire targets and then actually get to them effectively, and while there's still a lot of work to be done, I'm very excited about continuing to push the boundaries of what we can do for patients with the world-class experts that are here,” Dr. Akulian said. 

“We plan to continue creating new autonomous medical robots that combine the strengths of robotics and AI to improve medical outcomes for patients facing a variety of health challenges while providing guarantees on patient safety,” said Dr. Alterovitz.

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