I-Corps: Multi-axis Deformable Sensor/Actuator System

该I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力包括智能算法驱动的上级支架，用于泌尿外科、胃肠道手术、耳鼻喉科手术和神经外科。 患有恶性梗阻、良性胆管狭窄、胆漏、胆管结石、移植、恶性肿瘤引起的胰腺狭窄、胰瘘、慢性胰腺炎和胰腺分裂的患者可能会从该技术中受益。在美国，每年有近112，000人因这些疾病接受治疗。预计本发明将显著改善目前使用的基于塑料/聚四氟乙烯的支架的性能，并在许多方面增强功能。该I-Corps项目将集中于评估市场需求，以改进基于张拉整体原理的新型多轴可变形传感器/致动器的设计。它提供了一个轻量级的执行器系统，具有6个操作自由度。这提供了产生三维结构的机会，该三维结构可以以低轮廓递送到人体中的期望解剖/手术部位以用于修复狭窄，并且可以扩张到期望形状。 该系统提供了新一代的体内管腔空间维持器、支架和扩张器。主要价值主张是保证支架保持力。该设备涉及智能算法，该算法感测系统的状态（角度，负载）并在本地激活它们以实现所需的时空支持。这些算法在嵌入式处理器中实时运行。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project includes smart algorithm-driven superior stents for use in Urology, Gastrointestinal surgery, ENT surgery and Neurosurgery. Patients suffering from malignant obstruction, benign biliary strictures, biliary leaks, bile duct stones, transplants, pancreatic strictures due to malignancy, pancreatic fistulae, chronic pancreatitis, and pancreas divisum would potentially benefit from this technology. Almost 112,000 people are treated for these conditions every year in the U.S. The invention is expected to significantly improve performance over currently used plastic/teflon based stents and also augment functionality on many fronts.This I-Corps project will focus on assessing the market requirements to refine the design of a novel Multi-Axis Deformable Sensor/Actuator that is based on the principle of tensegrity. It offers a lightweight actuator system with 6 degrees of freedom of manipulation. This provides the opportunity to create 3-dimensional structures that can be delivered to a desired anatomical/surgical site in the human body for the purpose of repairing strictures, in a low profile and can be expanded to the desired shape. This system offers a new generation of intra-body luminal space maintainers, stents, and expanders. The main value proposition is guaranteed stent retention. The device involves smart algorithms that sense the states (angles, loads) of the system and locally activates them to achieve a desired spatio-temporal support. These algorithms are run in real-time, in embedded processor.