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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: EP/R045291/1
Title: Surgery enabled by ultrasonics
Principal Investigator: Lucas, Professor M
Other Investigators:
Simpson, Professor H Walmsley, Professor D Valdastri, Professor P
Cochran, Professor S Pierron, Professor F
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Active Needle Technology Ltd CTS Corporation Dentsply Sirona
Intuitive Surgical Inc Kuka Roboter GmbH NHS
PZFlex Limited (UK) Shanghai Institute of Ceramics Sonic Systems Limited
Stryker (UK and Int'l ed) Thales Ltd
Department: School of Engineering
Organisation: University of Glasgow
Scheme: Programme Grants
Starts: 01 November 2018 Ends: 31 October 2024 Value (£): 6,114,693
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Instrumentation Eng. & Dev. Med.Instrument.Device& Equip.
Med.Instrument.Device& Equip.
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Healthcare
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Panel DatePanel NameOutcome
11 Jun 2018 Programme Grant Interviews - 12 June 2018 (Healthcare) Announced
Summary on Grant Application Form
The range of surgical tools for interventional procedures that dissect or fragment tissue has not changed significantly for millennia. There is huge potential for ultrasonic devices to enable new minimal access surgeries, offering higher precision, much lower force, better preservation of delicate structures, low thermal damage and, importantly, enabling more procedures to be carried out on an out-patient or day surgery basis. To realise this potential, and deliver our vision of ultrasonics being the technology of choice for minimal access interventional surgery, a completely new approach to device design is required, to achieve miniaturisation and to incorporate both a cutting and healing capability in the devices. By integrating with innovative flexible, tentacle-like surgical robots, we will bring ultrasonic devices deep into the human body, along tortuous pathways to the surgical site, to deliver unparalleled precision.

Unsurpassed precision in challenging neurological, skull-base and spinal procedures as well as in general surgery is attainable through tailoring the robotic-ultrasonic devices to deliver the exact ultrasonic energy to the exact locations required to optimise the surgery. We will achieve this by quantifying the effects of the ultrasonic excitations typical of surgical devices in tissues, at and surrounding the site of surgery, in terms of precision cutting, tissue damage (mechanical damage, thermal necrosis, cavitation) but also the potential to aid regeneration. We will make world-leading advances in ultra-high speed imaging measurements and biophysical analysis, complementing advances in histology and clinical assessment, to develop a combined approach to the characterisation of both damage and regeneration of tissue. Through this holistic approach to device design, we will create integrated robotic-ultrasonic surgical devices tailored for optimised surgery.
Key Findings
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Potential use in non-academic contexts
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Summary
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Organisation Website: http://www.gla.ac.uk