A simulation of the Raven, a surgical robot, developed in part scientists at the University of Washington. |
Inside the Biorobotics Laboratory at the University of Washington live seven ravens.
They each have two winglike arms and tiny claws, but unlike other ravens, these are highly sophisticated robots that have the ability to perform surgery on a simulated patient.
The robot, known as Raven II, has compact electronics and dexterous hands that can hold wristed surgical tools. A surgeon sitting at a screen can look through Raven`s cameras and guide the instruments to perform a task such as suturing.
Developed by Blake Hannaford, director of the Biorobotics Laboratory and a professor in the UW’s Department of Electrical Engineering, and a team of engineers, the Raven will soon be used in an open-source research exchange that will allow greater development of surgical robotics.
The UW group is making its software work with the Robot Operating System, a popular open-source robotics code, so groups can easily connect the Raven to other devices.
The robots will be shared with campuses across the country, including Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, U.C. Berkeley, and UCLA, where scientists can build upon and improve the research already developed.
All projects are aimed at speeding up procedures, reducing errors and improving patient outcomes.
The original Raven robot will move to UW Medicine`s Institute for Simulation and Interprofessional Studies for use by medical researchers there.
'"I see huge potential in surgical robotics for incorporating new instruments, more procedures, allowing for remote surgeries, and doing collaborative surgery between multiple surgeons in different locations," said collaborator Dr. Thomas Lendvay, a UW assistant professor of urology and a pediatric urologist at Seattle Children`s Hospital. "Having everyone working on the same, open-source robot will help to make these happen more quickly."
“With everyone working on the same, open-source platform we can more easily share new developments and innovations,” Hannaford in a written statement.
While some groups have built their own devices, this slows progress in the field.
“Researchers and funding agencies are tired of one-off robots - they want to pursue projects that use standardized platforms,” Hannaford said.
Rosen, a former UW faculty member who is now an associate professor of computer engineering at UC Santa Cruz, helped develop the robots.
“Academic researchers have had limited access to these proprietary systems,” Rosen said. “We are changing that by providing high-quality hardware developed within academia. Each lab will start with an identical, fully operational system, but they can change the hardware and software and share new developments and algorithms, while retaining intellectual property rights for their own innovations.”
A grant from the National Science Foundation paid for the new devices.
The system, while not approved by the Food and Drug Administration, is precise enough to support research on advanced robotic-surgery techniques.
The new robots were designed and built by Rosen`s group in Santa Cruz. The UW group built the electronics and software; undergraduates helped wire circuit boards, assemble the electronic components and perform tests.
