Healthcare Robotics Enabling Technologies

Robotics is all about leading change. To realize the true potential of robotics requires a bold vision driven top-down that aligns R&D teams, operations, finance, and global IT, while also requiring a deep focus on the details of successful individual deployments. In this talk, Brad Porter will share his perspective on how soon collaborative robots, with more human-like capability and a greater ability to collaborate with humans, are coming and the new challenges and opportunities they will present in healthcare.

Force and torque sensing play key roles in enabling surgical robotics, including at the tip of the instrument, trocar location/tissue contact, surgeon collaboration and the surgeon interface. During this session, attendees will learn about 13 core specifications for haptic sensors and the current state-of-the-art of what’s possible. This talk will detail best practices for implementing haptic sensors into surgical robots, including:

– Thermal compensation and considerations under surgical drapes

– Grounding & shielding inside ultra-compact robotic joints
– Engineered cable assemblies for high-flex, multidimensional, tight-bend application

Compared to industrial and consumer motion control technologies, solutions for healthcare applications typically have different, and often very stringent, functional requirements in areas such as safety, reliability, tolerances, sterilization and more. In this panel session, attendees will learn how the latest products and technologies support the development of advanced robotics systems and allow for new capabilities and new applications.

What is the best architectural approach to use when building medical robots? Is it ROS, ROS 2 or other open-source or commercial frameworks? The answer is, “it depends.” In this presentation, we will explore engineering questions concerning the level of concern, risk, design controls, and evidence on a couple of different applications of these frameworks. Looking at three hypothetical robotic systems, we will explore these approaches:

1. An application based on the da Vinci Research Kit through regulatory clearance
2. ROS as test tools to verify the software requirements for a visual guidance system
3. Commercial off-the-shelve robot arm used for a medical application

Attending this session to learn how to create trade-offs with these different architectural approaches and how to validate the intended uses of these architectural approaches to ensure a successful submission package for your FDA, EMA, or other regulatory approval.

Robotics has the potential to democratize healthcare by complementing a surgeon’s skills and guaranteeing consistent quality of care. With the aim of reducing pain, discomfort and limiting disruptive interaction with the anatomy, soft magnetic robots are a novel, emerging solution. This technology can guarantee remote actuation, which equates to smaller size and softer devices. This talk will introduce the potential for magnetic soft robots in overcoming the main limitations of alternative approaches, such as minimally-invasive surgery which is difficult to scale due to the need for highly skilled personnel. The session will discuss a range of applications magnetic robots can cover in healthcare, with a focus on diagnosis and surgery. The main challenges and future research goals are introduced and reviewed.

Healthcare robots are quite different from their industrial counterparts. They do not work in fenced-off areas, but rather side by side with their operators. With this in mind, safety, accuracy, and size requirements have become more critical in today’s applications. Reliable control of the robot’s position, alignment and movement is essential. Rotary and linear encoders enable the position feedback of the motor and send vital information to the control.

This talk will illustrate different measurement principles (magnetic, glass, inductive) and explain the advantages of magnetic measurement. It will differentiate between absolute and incremental systems and will discuss the different interfaces from basic incremental TTL to absolute interfaces like CANopen or BiSS-C. Attendees will also learn about trends and requirements for compact designs and highly integrated solutions.

In this presentation we will provide an update on recent developments in motion control technologies, applications, and products that are especially important for designers of medical analytical instruments and operating room equipment.

The emphasis will be on mobile & surgical robotics, patient therapy equipment, and advances in actuators and position sensors that are driving the next generation of motion control applications that deliver more accuracy, lower treatment costs, and improved medical outcomes.

Prabh Gowrisankaran, VP of Engineering and Strategy at Performance Motion Devices, Inc. (PMD), will share his extensive experience in electronic motion control and will lead this discussion designed to be interesting for both engineers and medical practitioners alike.