Laser micromachining system for the development of sensorized medical devices

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This proposal is requesting funds to purchase a 193-nm excimer laser micromachining system for the fabrication of small-scale sensors to be incorporated into a variety of instruments suitable for minimally invasive surgery and therapy (MIST). In MIST, instruments enter the patient's body through small (10 mm) incisions. This type of surgery significantly reduces trauma to the body, post-operative pain and the length of hospital stay compared to open surgery. Many of the ongoing projects at CSTAR (Canadian Surgical Technologies and Advanced Robotics) are focused on the development of new devices and techniques for this type of surgery. Projects include the development of instruments for tumour localization, single port access surgery (where instruments are often less than 3 mm in diameter), active catheters, the delivery of probe and needle based ablative therapies (e.g., brachytherapy and radio-frequency ablation), and a test-bed for haptics-enabled, robotics-assisted MIST. In each of these projects, the size and capabilities of currently available sensors impose limits on the design and functionality of devices intended for use in MIST. For example, to overcome the loss of haptic cues due to friction, moments and force scaling at the entry point, it is desirable to place force-sensing elements at or near the tip of MIST instruments; however, even the smallest strain gauges are often too large and are too difficult to apply accurately. The requested laser micromachining centre would allow strain-sensitive elements to be fabricated in-place by precisely ablating insulating and semiconductor layers deposited on instrument tips, shafts and flexure elements. The resulting micro strain gauges would be smaller than commercially-available gauges, free from adhesion and alignment issues, and could be made into any desired pattern. The versatility of the excimer laser system allows for high precision cutting, etching, drilling and ablation of a wide variety of materials including metals, polymers, ceramics and glasses. This capability is essential to the development of sensor technologies suitable for use in MIST instrumentation.