10103097Ultrasonic Scalpel Driving System for Robotic Assisted SurgeryClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UKNami Surgical Ltd is a spin-out from the University of Glasgow. Two PhD graduates trained within the Centre for Medical and Industrial Ultrasonics have conceived a solution which meets a significant unmet healthcare challenge for ultrasonic surgical devices. Ultrasonic scalpels are handheld surgical devices that simultaneously cut and cauterise soft tissue. These devices are the gold standard energy instrument used in \>80% of minimally invasive surgeries. Feedback from surgeons is that they strongly prefer ultrasonic scalpels over conventional cutting tools or electrosurgical tools as they shorten operating times, length of patient stays, patient pain and overall chance of complications. In parallel, surgical robotic platforms are rapidly diffusing throughout the global healthcare system in response to the need for minimally invasive surgery approaches to combat the global rise in chronic disease and the growing ageing population. It is forecast that by 2025, close to 100% of US hospitals will have at least one surgical robot, up from about 25% in 2016\. However, due to the technical characteristics and physical limitations of existing ultrasonic scalpels, they cannot be used effectively with surgical robots. Existing scalpels have transducers that are too large to fit through laparoscopic ports and thus require long rods, "waveguides", to transfer energy to the surgical site. These waveguides cannot be bent or manoeuvred at the distal end, and generate heat that can damage tissue and smoke that reduces visibility. Nami's solution is a miniaturised ultrasonic scalpel that fits through a surgical port and is compatible with wristed robotic articulating joints, meeting an outstanding clinical need confining millions of procedures worldwide. Nami's patent-pending technology allows the ultrasonic scalpel to be mounted directly as the end effector of a wristed robotic arm, offering the surgeons the ability to perform complex procedures with dexterity mimicking the access of open surgery alongside the clinical benefits of minimally invasive surgery. This project will unlock the resources Nami requires to develop a driving system which can exploit the features of a first-of-a-kind miniaturised robotic ultrasonic technology, a surgical tool which can act both as an ultrasonic scalpel and a sensor. Fully unlocking this information, in combination with the digital ecosystem offered by surgical robotics, will enable surgeons to evaluate and analyse meaningful and actionable real-time surgical data. It represents a crucial advancement in modern ultrasonic surgical technology, allowing surgeons to perform complex procedures with greater confidence and improved patient outcomes.