Several robotic systems have been proposed for removing blood from the brain in patients who have undergone a hemorrhagic stroke. In this paper we explore the use of imagebased feedback to address tissue deformation when aspirating a hemorrhage in a phantom model. This is the first time intraoperative image feedback has been used with a concentric tube robot in this application. We describe a layer by layer approach to motion planning. Computed tomography (CT) images are collected periodically during hemorrhage removal. After each CT scan, the robot's tip path is re-planned to account for the tissue deformation that has occurred since the previous scan. We compare open loop hemorrhage removal to our sequential imaging-replanning approach, illustrating that the latter has the potential to enhance the safety and efficacy of the procedure.

In this work we propose a new Prediction from Expert Demonstration (PED) methodology to provide haptic assistance in robot assisted trocar surgery. Data was collected from expert (clinician) demonstrations for the procedure of trocar insertion. We encode a set of force, torque and penetration trajectories by using a Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM). A generalization of these profiles and associated parameters are retrieved by Gaussian Mixture Regression (GMR). A haptic assistance mode was devised to help novices perform the procedure based on the proposed PED model. We validated the methodology for surgical assistance on (n= 15) participants. The PED haptic model was tested for instrument deviation, penetration force and penetration depth. Preliminary study results showed that participants with PED haptic assistance performed the task with more consistency and exerted lesser penetration force than subjects without assistance.

In this paper, a shape decomposition methodology to decompose the cervical spine using an approximate convex methodology is proposed. The proposed methodology identifies the most concave L-ring neighborhood in a decomposition of a surface (manifold-2) and partitions it in order to reduce its concavity. A close approximation of the original surface by a set of convex surfaces hulls is then produced.

In this video we present a work in progress in the UJI (i.e. the acronym for University Jaume I) robotics telelaboratory. This telelaboratory uses a remote control system based on networked robots and FPGAs technology. The main devices included in this cell are: a SCARA manipulator (AdeptOne), a robot arm with six degrees of freedom (Motoman), an industrial belt, several sensors and cameras, an FPGA that takes care of the computer vision algorithms (i.e. including grasping determination), and a distributed architecture that allows any user to control remotely via Internet a specific manufacturing task. The different components of this system are connected by a 100BaseT Ethernet network and follow the SNRP architecture (i.e. Simple Network Robot Protocol), which permits the integration of network robots and sensors within an e-learning platform in a simple and reliable manner. The whole telelaboratory is connected to the Internet through a router that permits the user to control the networked devices according to security constraints. This distributed architecture allows any user to control remotely via Internet a specific manufacturing task.

Within the context of tele-laboratories for education the use of the Internet as communication media permits any researcher/student to perform remote experiments in a simple and reliable manner. Moreover, this situation introduces many interesting issues like network protocols for Internet robots, the effects of variable bandwidth and time-delays on telerobotics, etc. In this paper we present a comparative analysis of using several Internet transport protocols when performing a remote experiment within the UJI Industrial Telelaboratory. TCP, UDP, Trinomial and TEAR protocols are analyzed using the NS2 simulator. Conclusions show a set of characteristics the authors of this paper consider very important when designing an end-to-end congestion control transport protocol for Internet Telerobotics. These ideas are the basis for the definition of the SNRTP (simple network robot transport protocol).