BERKELEY, CA (UroToday.com) - Medical robotic systems can be a reliable instrument to provide a precise, safe, and less painful diagnosis and treatment to the patient.
In particular, palpation is widely used as a basic screening method in medical fields because of its prompt availability, cost effectiveness, and low risk. However, the results obtained by palpation are not objective and quantitative, and thus it is hard to provide accurate and useful diagnostic information for diagnosis to the patients. Therefore, the investigation to apply a robotic palpation is subject of interest in medical fields because it can precisely induce mechanical loadings to tissues and measure the mechanical behavior or signal representing the target organ conditions to physicians and patients [1-3].
In our research, we developed a minimally invasive indenter to measure the tissue behavior. The system can be used to measure the force response of the target tissue against the robotic palpation. Therefore, we performed the experiments on human organs, such as prostates, bladders, and kidneys [4,5]. The mechanical property of the measured tissue, quantitative information, can be obtained by using the force responses of tissues, experimental conditions, and soft-tissue characterization methods [5-7]. The objective and quantitative information of the organs can be used for exact screenings and the detection of organ diseases. Furthermore, the information can be applied to localize the abnormality into the organs, which can be useful in identifying the resected tissue area during surgery.
To achieve the advancement of this research, we need to address several key challenges. First, it is necessary for precise sensors and miniaturized actuators to develop the robotic palpation system used to accurately measure biological tissue behavior. Second, soft-tissue characterization is used to obtain the objective and quantitative information of the organs. However, because the tissue is composed of a complex structure, it is hard to regenerate the organ structure during characterization. Therefore, the accurate soft tissue characterization method is required. Finally, researchers and physicians need to collaborate to perform organ experiments in a real situation, and to analyze the results accurately.
References:
- Dario P, Bergamasco M. An advanced robot system for automated diagnostic tasks through palpation. IEEE Tran Biomedical Engineering. 1988;35:118-126.
- Bicchi A, Canepa G, Rossi DD, Iacconi P, Scilingo EP. A sensorized minimally invasive surgery tool for detecting tissutal elastic properties. In: Proc IEEE Int Conference on Robotics and Automation. 1996; Minneapolis, MN.
- Scilingo EP, Rossi DD, Bicchi A, Iacconi P. Haptic display for replication of rheological behavior of surgical tissues: modelling, control and experiments. In: Proc ASME Dynamics, Systems and Control Division. 1997.
- Ahn B, Kim J, Lorenzo EIS, Rha K, Kim H. Mechanical Property Characterization of Prostate Cancer Using a Minimally Motorized Indenter in an Ex Vivo Indentation Experiment. Urology. 2010;76:1007-1011.
- Lee J, Lorenzo EIS, Ahn B, Oh C, Kim H, Han W, et al. Palpation Device for the Identification of Kidney and Bladder Cancer: A Pilot Study. Yonsei Medical Journal. 2011;52(5):768-772.
- Ahn B, Kim J, Measurement and Characterization of Soft Tissue Behavior with Surface Deformation and Force Response under Large Deformations. Medical Image Analysis. 2010;14:138-148.
- Nava A, Mazza E, Furrer M, Villiger P, Reinhart WH. In vivo mechanical characterization of human liver. Medical Image Analysis. 2008;12:203-216.
Written by:
Koon Ho Rha, MD., Et Al., as part of Beyond the Abstract on UroToday.com. This initiative offers a method of publishing for the professional urology community. Authors are given an opportunity to expand on the circumstances, limitations etc... of their research by referencing the published abstract.
Palpation device for the identification of kidney and bladder cancer: A pilot study - Abstract
