Design, Modeling, and Control of Continuum Robots for Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery and Endovascular Interventions

Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) utilizes small incisions or natural orifices to access internal anatomy and perform procedures from within the body. This approach reduces patient trauma, lowers the risk of complications, and shortens recovery times. However, many commercially available MIS tools have limited maneuverability, especially in environments with tight anatomical constraints. This limitation becomes evident in blood vessels with small diameters and severe tortuosity, as well as in regions with highly delicate surrounding structures, such as those encountered in neurosurgery.

Continuum robots, comprising continuous structures that utilize deformation to produce curvilinear shapes, have the benefit of being inherently safe due to their natural compliance, offer high potential for miniaturization, and can generate complex trajectories due to their infinite degrees-of-freedom (DoF). These characteristics make them suitable for addressing the limitations of current commercially available surgical tools. This talk will present tendon-driven continuum robots for applications in endovascular interventions and neurosurgery. I will describe the design of multi-DoF robotic endoscopes and guidewires with advanced capabilities, such as intrinsic shape sensing, force sensing, and active stiffening. Lastly, this talk will outline emerging research directions and future opportunities in robotic surgery.

Timothy A. Brumfiel is a Robotics PhD candidate in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He received the MS and BS degrees in mechanical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2022 and 2020, respectively. His current work at the Medical Robotics and Automation (RoboMed) Laboratory addresses critical challenges in minimally invasive robotic surgical tools for applications in neurosurgery and endovascular interventions with a focus on modeling, sensing, and control of flexible robotic systems. His research has been published in prestigious publication outlets such as Science Robotics, IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, and npj Robotics. His research interests include continuum robot control, contact-implicit motion planning, and learning-based autonomy for robotic surgical systems