Project description:BACKGROUND:End-effector robots are commonly used in robot-assisted neuro-rehabilitation therapies for upper limbs where the patient's hand can be easily attached to a splint. Nevertheless, they are not able to estimate and control the kinematic configuration of the upper limb during the therapy. However, the Range of Motion (ROM) together with the clinical assessment scales offers a comprehensive assessment to the therapist. Our aim is to present a robust and stable kinematic reconstruction algorithm to accurately measure the upper limb joints using only an accelerometer placed onto the upper arm. METHODS:The proposed algorithm is based on the inverse of the augmented Jaciobian as the algorithm (Papaleo, et al., Med Biol Eng Comput 53(9):815-28, 2015). However, the estimation of the elbow joint location is performed through the computation of the rotation measured by the accelerometer during the arm movement, making the algorithm more robust against shoulder movements. Furthermore, we present a method to compute the initial configuration of the upper limb necessary to start the integration method, a protocol to manually measure the upper arm and forearm lengths, and a shoulder position estimation. An optoelectronic system was used to test the accuracy of the proposed algorithm whilst healthy subjects were performing upper limb movements holding the end effector of the seven Degrees of Freedom (DoF) robot. In addition, the previous and the proposed algorithms were studied during a neuro-rehabilitation therapy assisted by the 'PUPArm' planar robot with three post-stroke patients. RESULTS:The proposed algorithm reports a Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of 2.13cm in the elbow joint location and 1.89cm in the wrist joint location with high correlation. These errors lead to a RMSE about 3.5 degrees (mean of the seven joints) with high correlation in all the joints with respect to the real upper limb acquired through the optoelectronic system. Then, the estimation of the upper limb joints through both algorithms reveal an instability on the previous when shoulder movement appear due to the inevitable trunk compensation in post-stroke patients. CONCLUSIONS:The proposed algorithm is able to accurately estimate the human upper limb joints during a neuro-rehabilitation therapy assisted by end-effector robots. In addition, the implemented protocol can be followed in a clinical environment without optoelectronic systems using only one accelerometer attached in the upper arm. Thus, the ROM can be perfectly determined and could become an objective assessment parameter for a comprehensive assessment.
Project description:Sacrocolpopexy has been dubbed the “gold standard” repair for apical pelvic organ prolapse (POP). This study sought to determine a genetic cause for sacrocolpopexy failure by comparing genotypes from 10 women who suffered from early POP reoccurance after sacrocolpopexy surgery, versus 40 randomly selected women with long term success after the same procedure. We objectively defined early overt failure after robotic-assisted laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy as having a pelvic organ prolapse quantification system examination (POP-Q) of stage III or IV occurring in more than one compartment within six months after surgery. All medical records identified during this process were then reviewed by a panel of urogynecology attendings and fellows to select patients who were truly clinical outliers. By this method we identified 10 patients (cases) who experienced early overt surgical failure. We also randomly selected 40 controls from our research database which includes greater than 500 patients who underwent robotic-assisted laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy during the same time period and had been objectively and subjectively assessed for ≥ 12 months with surgical success at ≥ 12 months that did not undergo prolapse re-operation or re-treatment. Demographics and peri-operative details were compared between cases and controls. Exclusion criteria for controls included use of other graft material besides polypropylene mesh, prior surgery for prolapse involving graft material, and conversion to laparotomy. DNA from the 10 cases and 40 controls was isolated from buccal swabs and genotyped on a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array that contains 250,000 markers (NspI 250K SNP array, Affymetrix, Santa Clara, CA). All women in this study identified as Caucasian. All subjects provided written informed consent to study participation and data release. This was a case-control study approved by the Institutional Review Board at the Atlantic Health System in Morristown New Jersey (R11-10-004).
Project description:Minimizing soft tissue dissection and improving visualization of vital structures during periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) is of paramount importance to improve patient outcome and minimize complications. The endoscopy-assisted PAO was introduced to accomplish this objective. It involves an initial hip arthroscopy, for treatment of central compartment pathology, followed by a mini-open Bernese periacetabular osteotomy under fluoroscopic and endoscopic guidance, and completed by final dynamic hip arthroscopy to assess acetabular reorientation and fixation and to perform femoroplasty in relation to the new acetabular rim position, if needed. Endoscopy-assisted PAO is used to treat dysplasia or acetabular retroversion in a minimally invasive fashion.
Project description:Sacrocolpopexy has been dubbed the âgold standardâ repair for apical pelvic organ prolapse (POP). This study sought to determine a genetic cause for sacrocolpopexy failure by comparing genotypes from 10 women who suffered from early POP reoccurance after sacrocolpopexy surgery, versus 40 randomly selected women with long term success after the same procedure. We objectively defined early overt failure after robotic-assisted laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy as having a pelvic organ prolapse quantification system examination (POP-Q) of stage III or IV occurring in more than one compartment within six months after surgery. All medical records identified during this process were then reviewed by a panel of urogynecology attendings and fellows to select patients who were truly clinical outliers. By this method we identified 10 patients (cases) who experienced early overt surgical failure. We also randomly selected 40 controls from our research database which includes greater than 500 patients who underwent robotic-assisted laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy during the same time period and had been objectively and subjectively assessed for ⥠12 months with surgical success at ⥠12 months that did not undergo prolapse re-operation or re-treatment. Demographics and peri-operative details were compared between cases and controls. Exclusion criteria for controls included use of other graft material besides polypropylene mesh, prior surgery for prolapse involving graft material, and conversion to laparotomy. DNA from the 10 cases and 40 controls was isolated from buccal swabs and genotyped on a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array that contains 250,000 markers (NspI 250K SNP array, Affymetrix, Santa Clara, CA). All women in this study identified as Caucasian. All subjects provided written informed consent to study participation and data release. This was a case-control study approved by the Institutional Review Board at the Atlantic Health System in Morristown New Jersey (R11-10-004). This case-control study compared single genotypes of 10 cases to 40 controls. All subjects were identified as Caucasian. Cases were women who experienced early overt POP recurrence after robotic sacrocolpopexy, and controls were randomly selected women with long term success after the same procedure.
Project description:Developments to the design of the flexible endoscope are transforming the field of gastroenterology. There is a drive to improve colonic adenoma detection rates leading to advancements in the design of the colonoscope. Novel endoscopes now allow increased visualisation of colonic mucosa, including behind colonic folds, and aim to reduce pain associated with the procedure. In addition, a shift in surgical paradigm towards minimally invasive endoluminal surgery has meant innovations in flexible platforms are being sought. There are a number of limitations of the basic endoscope. These include a lack of stability and triangulation of instruments. Modifications to the flexible endoscope design form the basis of a number of newly developed and research platforms, some of which are discussed in this review.
Project description:PurposeComputer-assisted interventions for enhanced minimally invasive surgery (MIS) require tracking of the surgical instruments. Instrument tracking is a challenging problem in both conventional and robotic-assisted MIS, but vision-based approaches are a promising solution with minimal hardware integration requirements. However, vision-based methods suffer from drift, and in the case of occlusions, shadows and fast motion, they can be subject to complete tracking failure.MethodsIn this paper, we develop a 2D tracker based on a Generalized Hough Transform using SIFT features which can both handle complex environmental changes and recover from tracking failure. We use this to initialize a 3D tracker at each frame which enables us to recover 3D instrument pose over long sequences and even during occlusions.ResultsWe quantitatively validate our method in 2D and 3D with ex vivo data collected from a DVRK controller as well as providing qualitative validation on robotic-assisted in vivo data.ConclusionsWe demonstrate from our extended sequences that our method provides drift-free robust and accurate tracking. Our occlusion-based sequences additionally demonstrate that our method can recover from occlusion-based failure. In both cases, we show an improvement over using 3D tracking alone suggesting that combining 2D and 3D tracking is a promising solution to challenges in surgical instrument tracking.
Project description:UnlabelledRecently, a transoral robotic-assisted technique to access the thyroid gland has been introduced. Despite the advantages this approach may have over other minimally invasive and robotic-assisted techniques, we found that the placement of the camera through the floor of mouth led to restricted freedom of movement. We describe our modification to this technique to overcome this problem. In a study using two fresh human cadavers, the camera port of the da Vinci robot was placed in the midline oral vestibule instead of the floor of the mouth. A transoral thyroidectomy and central neck dissection was successfully performed. Our modification led to an unfettered view of the central neck and allowed for a total thyroidectomy and central neck dissection. Our modification of transoral robotic-assisted thyroidectomy provides superior access to the central compartment of the neck over other robotic-assisted thyroidectomy techniques.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11701-011-0287-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Project description:ObjectiveIncreased computational power and improved visualization hardware have generated more opportunities for virtual reality (VR) applications in healthcare. In this study, we test the feasibility of a VR-assisted surgical navigation system for robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy.Material and methodsThe prostate, all magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) visible tumors, and important anatomic structures like the neurovascular bundles, seminal vesicles, bladder, and rectum were contoured on a multiparametric MRI using an in-house segmentation software. Three-dimensional (3-D) VR models were rendered and evaluated in a side room of the operating room. While interacting with the VR platform, a real-time stereo video capture of the in situ prostate was obtained to render a second 3-D model. The MRI-based model was then overlaid on the real-time model by using an automated alignment algorithm.ResultsTen patients were included in this study. All MRI-based VR models were examined by surgeons immediately prior to surgery and at important steps where visualization of the tumors and their proximity to surrounding anatomic structures were critical. This was mainly during the preparation of the prostatic pedicles, neurovascular plexus, the apex, and bladder neck. All participants found the system useful, especially for tumors with locally aggressive growth patterns. For small and centrally located tumors, the system was not considered beneficial due to lack of integration into the robotic console. A fully integrated system with real-time overlays within the robotic stereo viewer was found to be the ideal scenario.ConclusionWe deployed a preliminary VR-assisted surgical navigation tool for robotic-assisted radical prostatectomies.
Project description:Despite major advances in cardiovascular research over the past decade, women with type 2 diabetes have a high risk of cardiovascular events. Several factors contribute to the poor prognosis for women, including higher levels of frailty and comorbidities, but their cardiovascular risk is underestimated and there is suboptimal implementation and uptitration of new evidence-based therapies, leading to high morbidity and mortality. Recent studies highlight the need for better management of diabetes in women that can be pursued and achieved in light of recent results from randomised controlled trials demonstrating evidence of the benefits of new therapeutic strategies in improving cardiovascular outcomes and quality of life of women covering the entire cardiovascular continuum. This review critically discusses the multiple benefits for women of new pharmacological treatments, such as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, sodium–glucose cotransporter type 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i), proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 inhibitors, inclisiran, icosapent ethyl and bempedoic acid in preventing cardiovascular events, and treatments, such as angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitors, SGLT2i, vericiguat and omecamtiv mecarbil, for preventing heart failure.