CAREER: Lifesaving Capsule Robots

胶囊机器人是药丸大小的设备，利用极端小型化在大型机器人无法触及的环境中运行。在医学上，胶囊机器人可以通过自然孔口或小切口进入人体，进行内窥镜检查和手术，同时最大限度地减少手术的侵入性。如果成功，这项研究将对数百万美国人产生影响，使无痛结肠镜检查能够用于结直肠癌筛查，使儿科患者从微创手术中受益，并改善根治性直肠癌切除术的并发症发生率。在这个项目中，胶囊机器人的研究正在与教育和推广相结合，涉及从高中到研究生的三个层次的学生。学生将有机会尝试胶囊机器人教育工具包，并将获得第一手接触这项新技术。我们正在组织对初中和高中的访问，以传达对工程和机器人技术的兴奋，鼓励年轻人从事STEM学科。这项研究的目标是描述机器人、磁力和控制交叉点的基本原理，使智能胶囊机器人能够增强胃肠病学家和外科医生的诊断和介入能力。 通过该项目，将推进胶囊机器人体系结构、实时控制和磁性药丸尺寸设备的遥操作的科学和应用。此外，计算有效的近似磁场和胶囊-组织相互作用的模型，结合微型无线电子器件，将使本体感受传感技术，可以有效地采用在临床设置。在磁操纵胶囊机器人中，环境意识和本体感受传感将首次被用来探索人类与机器人互动的全方位。这项研究还将通过实现针对人体深处器官的新诊断和治疗程序来推进医学科学。

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.