EPSRC-NIHR HTC Partnership Award: Technology Network on Devices for Surgery and Rehabilitation

Lead Research Organisation: Imperial College London
Department Name: Institute for Global Health

Abstract

Advances in surgery have made a significant impact on the management of major acute diseases, prolonging life and continuously extending survival rates. Earlier diagnosis, improved efficiency and delivery of therapeutic measures combined with advances in surgical techniques have all contributed to improved prognosis. Many terminal illnesses have now been transformed into clinically manageable, chronic lifelong conditions. Increased longevity and survival after major illness has resulted in many surgical patients being more likely to have co-morbidities; the future of surgery is therefore moving towards precision intervention, increasingly driven by focus on quality-of-life after surgery, as well as the need for taking a systems approach towards surgery. The aim of the proposed network is to establish a forum for surgical innovation with seamless integration of engineering research, clinical translation and industrial development by aligning EPSRC healthcare technologies with NIHR Healthcare Technology Co-operatives (HTCs) to accelerate the development and clinical adoption of new surgical and assistive devices that can improve the treatment, functional restoration, rehabilitation and quality-of-life for patients. The network is supported by two NIHR HTCs - the Enteric HTC led by Barts Health NHS Trust and the Trauma Management HTC by University Hospitals of Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust. The proposed network will also be supported by Health KTN and a number of academic, NHS, industrial and healthcare stakeholders.

The research and clinical bases to be covered by the proposed Technology Network will include the following three areas: 1) Sensing for improved peri-operative care - which is a determining factor for mitigating against post-operative complications; 2) Smart surgical devices - for surgery with increased consistency and accuracy, streamlining intraoperative surgical decision making and circumventing potential post-operative complications and revisions; 3) Assistive devices and robots - to facilitate remote monitoring and managed rehabilitation in community or home care settings. The three areas share common engineering research challenges but need to be pursued under different clinical context.

The planned activities of the network include 1) Network Events: Symposia and Focused Workshops; 2) Strategic Roadmap events and User Forums; 3) Support for Interdisciplinary Mobility and Industrial Secondment; 4) Proof-of-Concept Projects and Design Competitions; 5) Exhibitions and Patient/Public Engagement; and 6) Online Engagement, Web Forum and Social Media; and 7) Health Policy and High Level Engagement. The benefits for those involved in the proposed network include partnership with extensive industrial and clinical connections already established by the partnering HTCs, host institutions, clinically aligned research and development pathways addressing the future of surgery, engagement of healthcare stakeholders and policy makers, access to research expertise and young talents in this highly interdisciplinary area, early end-user involvement, and tapping into design expertise, access to user group feedback, deliver rapid results through HTCs' clinical network, match evidence to needs of NICE, strong commercial engagement.

Planned Impact

The proposed network will foster new interdisciplinary research for establishing a critical mass around UK's research strengths in sensing, robotics and surgical devices by bridging EPSRC and NIHR research activities with significant industrial involvement and a clear translational focus. Through planned activities as detailed in the Case-for-Support, the proposed network will:

1) Facilitate knowledge transfer of surgical device innovation, experimental techniques, scientific insights, promote mobility between academe, universities and industry;

2) Initiate, facilitate and lead major multidisciplinary collaborative grants and development programmes through close interaction among the engineering research community, science, technology, industrial groups, and healthcare technologies stakeholders;

3) Provide a platform for clinicians, engineers and industrialists to exchange ideas and forge new collaborative agreements and joint development programmes;

4) Raise the awareness of key challenges and opportunities of surgical technologies and create an opportunity for researchers to work together and learn from the leaders in the field and gain an in depth knowledge of advanced surgical technologies;

5) Strengthen public engagement, inspire, educate and connect young professionals in research to achieve excellence in their career and contribute to the industry and society;

6) Maintain strong relationships with partner institutions and foster long-term collaborations between clinicians and engineers to translate research into advances for the benefit of the patients and improve quality of life;

7) Influence healthcare policy in the effective use of new technology for addressing health challenges associated with demographic, environmental, social and economic changes.
 
Description Since its formation, the Network has organised/contributed to a number of high profile events, including the Enteric Hackday; the Hamlyn Symposium 2014, 2015, 2016; focused workshops on surgical imaging in partnership with Enteric HTC; focused workshops on Wearable and Assistive Robots in partnership with Trauma management HTC; organised the first and second International Surgical Robot Challenge with industrial support from Intuitive Surgical, Kuka, and Applied Dexterity; and secured over 11 NIHR Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) clinical translation feasibility grants. During the same period, the number of partners involved in the Network has increased significantly.
Exploitation Route -Facilitate knowledge transfer
-Initiate major multidisciplinary collaborative grants
-Provide a platform for clinicians, engineers and industrialists to exchange ideas and forge new collaborative agreements and joint development programmes;
-Maintain strong relationships with partner institutions and foster long-term collaborations between clinicians and engineers
-Influence healthcare policy in the effective use of new technology for addressing health challenges
Sectors Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Electronics,Healthcare,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology
URL http://hamlyn.doc.ic.ac.uk/htc/
 
Description We have taken part in the Imperial Festival to inform patients and public of our research in these areas. In the last year we ran a series of workshops on Medical Robotics as part of the Hamlyn Symposium 2017, 2018 and 2019. The conference and workshops bring clinicians together with researchers in academia and industry to exchange ideas on the current state-of-the-art and future trends in these areas. For example, wearable robots, actuated prostheses and exoskeletons have made significant inroads in recent years for functional rehabilitation, restoration of natural mobility and enhancing musculoskeletal strength and endurance. Assistive robots also play a key role in managing the ageing population for general activities of daily living and remote presence for linking to specialist centres. We have run School Robot Challenge 2017 to inspire children with the natural world and robotics. This is a national competition that teaches schoolchildren about the basics of 3D computer aided design.
Sector Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Healthcare,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology
Impact Types Cultural
 
Description EPSRC-NIHR HTC Plus Technology Network-Plus on Devices for Surgery and Rehabilitation
Amount £507,552 (GBP)
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 07/2016 
End 06/2019
 
Title A carbon-nanotube-coated 3D microspring force sensor 
Description Flexible electronic materials combined with micro-3D fabrication present new opportunities for wearable biosensors and medical devices. A novel carbon-nanotube-coated force sensor is developed by our research team. The device employs carbon-nanotube-coated microsprings with varying configurations and geometries for real-time force sensing. This research method was developed by Dr Bing Li, Dr Bruno Gil, Dr Maura Power, Dr Anzhu Gao, Dr Shen Treratanakulchai, Dr Salzitsa Anastasova and Professor Guang-Zhong Yang 
Type Of Material Improvements to research infrastructure 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact This development successfully combined the advantages of flexible conductive nanomaterials and the versatility of two photon polymerization technologies for creating functional 3D microstructures. To demonstrate its practical value, the device has first been embodied as a patch sensor for transcutaneous monitoring of human arterial pulses, followed by the development of a multiple-point force-sensitive catheter for real-time noninvasive intraluminal intervention. The results illustrate the potential of leveraging advanced nanomaterials and micro-3D-printing for developing new medical devices. 
 
Title A flexible/stretchable multiparametric sensing device realized via a commercial process 
Description A novel flexible/stretchable device realized via a commercial process. this device is comprised of horseshoe interconnects, electrochemical sensor electrode arrays, a heater for thermotherapy/thermo-regulation, a temperature sensor, electrodes for recording/applying signals to tissues and a bioimpedance sensor. This research method was developed by Dr Panagiotis Kassanos, Dr Florent Seichepine, Dr Dominic Wales and Professor Guang-Zhong Yang. 
Type Of Material Improvements to research infrastructure 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact Electrochemical deposition and characterization of platinum black to the bioimpedance sensor and gold and subsequently IrOx for pH sensing to other electrodes, characterization of the temperature and bioimpedance sensors and heater are presented. 
 
Title An multifunctional flexible/stretchable smart e-skin with dedicated readout electronics 
Description Here we propose the development of a smart e-skin sensing and instrumentation capabilities based on the aforementioned technologies. The work focuses on the design of the e-skin platform and the development of compact readout electronics with multiplexing capabilities in the vicinity of the sensors. - Development of flexible and stretchable sensors for wearable and surgical applications. - Exploitation of commercial flexible/stretchable technologies for the realization of flexible and stretchable sensors. - Development of a custom in-house process for the fabrication of flexible/stretchable electronics. - Development of sensor readout electronics. Methods for microelectronics integration of flexible substrates. - Methods for the electrochemical post processing of electrodes for reduced interfacial impedance and chemical sensing. - Methods for the characterization of flexible/stretchable devices under s=induced stresses and methods for sensor characterization. Researchers with significant contribution: Panagiotis Kassanos, Florent Seichepine and Salzitsa Anastasova 
Type Of Material Improvements to research infrastructure 
Year Produced 2018 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact A set of flexible/stretchable sensing and interconnect technologies have been developed at the Hamlyn Centre, based on flexible printed circuit (FPC) technologies [2-3] and conductive composite materials. Tissue bioimpedance sensors, optical, capacitive and resistive strain and pressure sensors, electrochemical sensors for metabolite measurements, and inductors for power delivery and data communication have been realized with these. 
 
Title Biohybrid prosthetic for nerve regeneration based on multi-functional fibre 
Description A new generation of microfabrication techniques, based on multi-functional fibre could improve the rehabilitation of patient by allowing for the implants to directly reconnect severed nerves. To achieve this, the growth of cultured nervous cells along an implant axes will be induced and enhanced by the mean of topological, electrical and chemical stimulations. A unique set of techniques has been developed in the Hamlyn Centre for the fabrication, functionalisation, electrical connection and fluid delivery capability of fibre designed and realised on site. Those fibres of tuneable diameter and length can be used to meet the requirement of nerve regeneration implants. This project have been focused on the development of new technology and protocols as well as testing of the first prototypes in in-vitro situation. In this framework the first phase of WP1 has been closed by the development of the first generation of implant base on polycarbonate fibre. One of the key achievements has been the use of a combination of carbon nanotube and polyLysine coating to achieve a large enhancement of cells seeding and growth (Acknowledgement, Dr Dominic Wales). The second generation is now under development with our effort currently focused on the usage of 3D printed hydrogel for 3D culture. For WP2 several tools have been developed in order to properly asses in repeatable condition the effect of electrical simulation for cells cultured. A new type of micro-electrode array (MEA) platform offering thermal control possibility has been design and an elegant solution has been developed for the electrical stimulation of cells for an extended period of time in sterile condition via the design and fabrication of a hand held stimulation generator. (Acknowledgement, Dr Panagiotis Kassanos, Dr Bruno Gil Rosa)). Techniques for the control modification of the electrodes via Pt Black deposition and long term stability have been developed. WP3, focused on the cell culture aspect of the project has been focused on this first month on the development of a reliable culture protocol for HELA cells. We have performed a study on the effect of various surface functionalizations on the cells behavior. Protocols for the efficient cells staining and imaging have been adapted to study the geometrical aspect of the cell development. (Acknowledgement, Dr Meysam Keshavarz) Researchers with significant contribution: Florent Seichepine, Meysam Keshavarz, Bruno Gil Rosa, Panagiotis Kassanos, Dominic Wales, Salzitsa Anastasova-Ivanova, Burak Temelkuran and Mohamed Abdelaziz 
Type Of Material Improvements to research infrastructure 
Year Produced 2018 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact A unique set of techniques has been developed in the Hamlyn Centre for the fabrication, functionalisation, electrical connection and fluid delivery capability of fibre designed and realised on site. Those fibres of tuneable diameter and length can be used to meet the requirement of nerve regeneration implants. We develop a prototype of bio-hybrid implant by investigating a large number of growth condition and architecture using several on-fibre technologies, such as electronic stimulation, microfluidic local delivery of growth factors and other chemical and micro- and nano- structuring of the surfaces. Such approach allows for the integration of various growth enhancing technologies developed in the literature directly onto the substrate, the shape of which can be tuned to fit the requirement of a specific injured nerve.Moreover, such artificial implants would not require a donor and thus remove the risk of pathogen transmission. 
 
Title Cerebrospinal fluid filtration (CSF) system as a therapeutical approach 
Description To analyse the CSF, it must be sent to the laboratory and certain analysis for example cultures can take up to several days to obtain a result. This project aims to develop a means of real-time continuous monitoring of different biomarkers in CSF which will allow for more evidence based therapeutic approaches and to show the huge potential of having a rapid diagnostic bedside test that will alleviate the need for time and labour-intensive testing. Preliminary work involving development of ionic sensors related to the CSF analysis such as sodium potassium, calcium, magnesium, chloride is under development for the required working range. Researchers with significant contribution: Salzitsa Anastasova-Ivanova, Hanifa Koguna, Haidie Adams and Bruno M Gil Rosa 
Type Of Material Physiological assessment or outcome measure 
Year Produced 2017 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact CSF filtration has been shown to decrease burden of disease and hence improve outcome in a case study with a pneumococcal meningitis treated with extra-corporeal filtration a favourable outcome was achieved. Subarachnoid Haemorrhage (SAH) is one of the most serious neurosurgical emergencies and results in high mortality and morbidity. Complications such as hydrocephalus develop as well as other sequelae because of blood load, blood breakdown products and other inflammatory cytokines. Complications following SAH may lead to poor outcomes, underlying mechanism include vasospasm, microthrombosis, and delayed cerebral ischemia. 
 
Title Confocal fluorescence microscopy platforms 
Description The Hamlyn Centre of Robotic Surgery at Imperial College London has recently developed a high-speed line-scanning confocal endomicroscope that can achieve frame rates upto 120 fps, an order of magnitude improvement over commercially available microconfocal systems. Preliminary work has been carried out on assessing margins of 51 wide local excision specimens demonstrate that it is possible to image tissue margins with 93% accuracy without affecting their oncopathological assessment & interpretation by histopathologists. A second system with integrated high-speed scanning stage is designed for rapid gigapixel imaging of whole tissue specimens like core needle biopsies. This system has been taken over to Renji hospital, Shanghai for rapid imaging of whole prostate biopsies and bladder cancer specimens. Currently, 25 tissue specimens have been imaged and the correlations with corresponding histopathology analysis is carried out. 
Type Of Material Physiological assessment or outcome measure 
Year Produced 2018 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact Tissue imaging protocol: The tissue acquisition, staining, assessment and validation protocols have been developed and tested on freshly excised as well as snap frozen tissues. Over 150 samples have been imaged using the Hamlyn line-scan confocal system and 20 specimens using the St. Andrews light-sheet fluorescence microscope. For staining: a solution of acriflavine hydrochloride at 0.02% concentration is applied on each margin of the tissue under assessment. This fluorescent agent is left to stain the tissues for approximately 1 minute and imaged immediately. The stain is not found to interfere with the routine histology analysis. 
 
Title Fabrication of Pressure Sensors on Medical Catheter for Intraluminal Intervention 
Description This project introduces a novel carbon nanotube-coated force sensor, successfully combining the advantages of flexible conductive nanomaterials and the versatility of two photon polymerization technologies for creating functional 3D micro structures. The device employs carbon nanotube-coated micro springs with varying numbers and geometries for the real-time force sensing and dielectric micro springs to hold the top gold electrode. To demonstrate its practical value, the device has firstly been embodied as a patch sensor for monitoring human arterial pulses through skin, followed by development of a multiple point force-sensitive catheter for real-time non-invasive intraluminal intervention in an animal lung. The results illustrate the potential of leveraging advanced nanomaterials and micro 3D printing for developing new medical devices. Researchers with significant contribution: Bing Li, Anzhu Gao and Bruno Gil Rosa 
Type Of Material Improvements to research infrastructure 
Year Produced 2018 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact It is expected in future that the pressure perception could be integrated with the robotic control loop to enable more accurate and safer positioning within the confined space, even improve the operation effectiveness and efficiency, therefore benefiting the global health system. 
 
Title Fluorescence microscopy for rapid virtual histology of whole tissue specimens 
Description The objective of this project is to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of high-speed fluorescence microscopy platforms in determining radial margins status following BCS by comparison to conventional histopathology. Such systems allow non-invasive real-time 'virtual' histology imaging of whole tissue specimens without having to section and fix them. Characteristic morphological features can be visualized at sub-cellular scale and assessed to distinguish normal/benign from neoplastic tissue sites. Researchers with significant contribution: Khushi Vyas and Professor Kishan Dholakia 
Type Of Material Physiological assessment or outcome measure 
Year Produced 2018 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact Preliminary work on using wide-local and confocal fluorescence systems developed at Hamlyn Centre has been carried out on 160 ex vivo human breast tissue specimens and 41 wide local excisions following breast conserving surgery. Future studies will focus on imaging margins of 49 WLE specimens and evaluate the diagnostic performance using line-scan confocal system and light-sheet imaging system. 
 
Title Light-sheet fluorescence microscopes for Fluorescence microscopy for rapid virtual histology of whole tissue specimens 
Description Lightsheet microscopy facilitates rapid, high-contrast, volumetric imaging with minimal sample exposure. However, the rapid divergence of a traditional Gaussian light sheet restricts the field of view (FOV) that provides innate subcellular resolution. Our collaborators at University of St. Andrews have recently developed an open-top histology light-sheet microscope with Airy beam that innately yields high contrast and resolution up to a tenfold larger FOV and enables rapid 3D tissue imaging. The first generation system was tested on 10 fresh-frozen breast tissue specimens and 3D tissue images with cellular resolution and visual distinction between normal and neoplastic tissues were obtained. However, the system was not turn-key and its large size was found to be difficult to move to a clinical setting. A second generation of the system was developed to be compact and tested in Charing cross hospital for fresh tissue imaging experiments. Large-cohort studies and system design modifications to make it more turn-key and reduce alignment issues is currently underway. 
Type Of Material Physiological assessment or outcome measure 
Year Produced 2018 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact Tissue imaging protocol: The tissue acquisition, staining, assessment and validation protocols have been developed and tested on freshly excised as well as snap frozen tissues. Over 150 samples have been imaged using the Hamlyn line-scan confocal system and 20 specimens using the St. Andrews light-sheet fluorescence microscope. For staining: a solution of acriflavine hydrochloride at 0.02% concentration is applied on each margin of the tissue under assessment. This fluorescent agent is left to stain the tissues for approximately 1 minute and imaged immediately. The stain is not found to interfere with the routine histology analysis. 
 
Title Magnetic Microrobots for Stem Cell and Drug Delivery 
Description The microrobots are small enough to be injected through the blood stream and overcome the impediments of reaching these delicate organs. A cage-like structure of these microrobots coated with a thin layer of Nickel and Titanium make them magnetic responsive and at the same time bio-compatible the requirements by which they can be manoeuvred through to body after insertion. An electromagnetic field will be exploited to guide the microrobots through the body with extreme accuracy. Our preliminarily experiments demonstrated that these microrobots can be successfully loaded with cells and being used as a payload of primary cells to the predetermined target organs. The first generation of this magnetic robots have been successfully fabricated using the commercial photo-resist and been coated with Ti and Ni for magnetic response. On the next step, these microrobots were seeded with HeLa cells and were maneuvered by exploiting a magnetic field. Based on the preliminary results, a need for synthesizing a custom-made photo resist to fabricate these microrobots was determined - since the commercial photo resist has deficient biocompatibility and therefore it has to be coated with metallic deposition. The second generation of this magnetic robots focuses on biocompatibility and an alternative for metallic deposition. Therefore, polyethylene glycol (PEG) based polymer has been used to overcome the biocompatibility issue of the first generation, at the same time magnetic nanoparticles were added into the PEG-based resist to circumvent the need for metallic deposition that hinders the degradation of these microrobots. In the following years, the untethered microrobots will be exploited for targeted delivery of cargoes such as drugs, stem cells and/or other therapeutic agents and the tethered microrobots/microactuators will be used for tissue biopsy at end of the fibres. As for the actuation, the first generation of untethered microrobots is focused on magnetic responsive actuation. We are also developing photo and chemo responsive resists as well - the microrobots will be steered by photo- or chemical gradients. The tethered microrobots/microactuators are to be fabricated from the same 2PP photo-resists so the actuation can be controlled by magnetism, light or chemical gradients. This research method is led by: Dr Meysam Keshavarz Internal Collaborators: Dr Dominic J. Wales, Dr Antoine Barbot and Dr Jang-Ah Kim 
Type Of Material Improvements to research infrastructure 
Year Produced 2018 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact The microrobots designed in this project contains micro-porous that help holding cells, using magnetic fields, that can guided to an organ of interest in the body where cells will start proliferating and regenerating damaged tissues. The first generation of the microrobots are coated with thin layer of nickel and titanium deposition. The nickel allows manipulation of the microrobot using an external magnetic field, while the titanium increases the biocompatibility of the structure, reducing its cytotoxicity. Another notable impact of this project is that our researchers successfully integrated the magnetic nano-particles into the PEG-based resist as well as generated the fabrication of the microrobots. This integration has hampered the feasibility of using microrobots for cell delivery application. 
 
Title Magnetic Microrobots for Transportation of Primary Cells, Targeted Therapy and Tissue Regeneration 
Description The microrobots are small enough to be injected through the blood stream and overcome the impediments of reaching these delicate organs. A cage-like structure of these microrobots coated with a thin layer of Nickel and Titanium make them magnetic responsive and at the same time biocompatible the requirements by which they can be manoeuvred through to body after insertion. An electromagnetic field will be exploited to guide the microrobots through the body with extreme accuracy. Our preliminarily experiments demonstrated that these microrobots can be successfully loaded with cells and being used as a payload of primary cells to the predetermined target organs. The first generation of this magnetic robots have been successfully fabricated using the commercial photo-resist and been coated with Ti and Ni for magnetic response. On the next step, these microrobots were seeded with HeLa cells and were maneuvered by exploiting a magnetic field. Based on the preliminary results, a need for synthesizing a custom-made photo resist to fabricate these microrobots was determined - since the commercial photo resist has deficient biocompatibility and therefore it has to be coated with metallic deposition. There second generation of this magnetic robots focuses on biocompatibility and an alternative for metallic deposition. Therefore, polyethylene glycol (PEG) based polymer has been used to overcome the biocompatibility issue of the fist generation, at the same time magnetic nanoparticles were added into the PEG-based resist to circumvent the need for metallic deposition that hinders the degradation of these microrobots. As the hydrogel-based approached seems promising for fabrication of micro-robots for cell delivery, a new mainstream of synthesis of PEG-based hydrogel has been added to objective of this project. The pending and future works to be done are including the cultivation of HeLa and primary cells on the second generation of the hydrogel-based micro-robots and ex-vivo experiments on Zebrafish. Researchers with significant contribution: Meysam Keshavarz, Antoine Barbot, Dominic J. Wales 
Type Of Material Improvements to research infrastructure 
Year Produced 2018 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact The microrobots designed in this project contains micro-porous that help holding cells, using magnetic fields, that can guided to an organ of interest in the body where cells will start proliferating and regenerating damaged tissues. The first generation of the microrobots are coated with thin layer of nickel and titanium deposition. The nickel allows manipulation of the microrobot using an external magnetic field, while the titanium increases the biocompatibility of the structure, reducing its cytotoxicity. Another notable impact of this project is that our researchers successfully integrated the magnetic nano-particles into the PEG-based resist as well as generated the fabrication of the microrobots. This integration has hampered the feasibility of using microrobots for cell delivery application. 
 
Description 'Biohybrid prosthetic for nerve regeneration based on multi-functional fibre' Clinical Colaboration with Renji hospital in Shanghai 
Organisation Renji Hospital
Country China 
Sector Hospitals 
PI Contribution The Hamlyn Centre is developing a new generation of microfabrication techniques, based on multi-functional fibre could improve the rehabilitation of patient by allowing for the implants to directly reconnect severed nerves. To achieve this, the growth of cultured nervous cells along an implant axes will be induced and enhanced by the mean of topological, electrical and chemical stimulations. A unique set of techniques has been developed in the Hamlyn Centre for the fabrication, functionalisation, electrical connection and fluid delivery capability of fibre designed and realised on site. Those fibres of tuneable diameter and length can be used to meet the requirement of nerve regeneration implants. Our research teams brought our current research results regarding neuro-regeneration, robotic assisted surgery for spinal cord surgery and wearable devices to our collaborators for further discussion.
Collaborator Contribution The collaborators from Renji Hospital offered their advices to our research issues. This collaboration will be used to set up an experimental framework adapted toward our long term goal of in vivo study.
Impact N/A
Start Year 2019
 
Description Biohybrid prosthetic for nerve regeneration based on multi-functional fibre 
Organisation Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Country China 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution The Hamlyn Centre team is focused on the development of the technology required for this project as following: - the development of the first generation of implant base on polycarbonate fibre - the second generation is now under development with our effort currently focused on the usage of 3D printed hydrogel for 3D culture - Microfluidic drug delivery will be integrated in the next generation and electronic stimulation will first been study on 2D planar culture - the arrival of a new 3D bioprinter in the laboratory changes some of our vision for the future integration on 3D bundle type culture Collaborative visit in Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine: - Workshop with clinician - Seminar with students - Technical demonstration of the surgical robotic capabilities
Collaborator Contribution The Shanghai Collaborator is supporting our clinical trials.
Impact N/A
Start Year 2018
 
Description Feasibility study for fluid filtering - cerebrospinal fluid filtration (CSF) as a therapeutical approach 
Organisation Imperial College London
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution In Hamlyn Centre we are developing the biomarkers (continuous sensing) and also the design of new extension part which will be adapted to be used with the CSF filtration probes. The sensors are developed in one platform together with the reference electrodes which means that there is no need for additional electrode to be added and makes the whole system quite compact.
Collaborator Contribution Our partner is Haidie Adams - a Clinical Fellow from Imperial College. He is advising us on the medical side of the requirements and also providing the commercially available CSF filtration probes. Haidie is also helping us to decide which are the most relevant parameters for the detection of infection.
Impact N/A
Start Year 2018
 
Description Fluorescence microscopy for rapid virtual histology of whole tissue specimens-St Andrews Collaboration 
Organisation University of St Andrews
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution The Hamlyn Centre is investigating the diagnostic accuracy of high-speed fluorescence microscopy platforms in determining radial margins status following Breast conserving surgery by comparison to conventional histopathology. The Centre has recently developed a high-speed line-scanning confocal endomicroscope that can achieve frame rates upto 120 fps, an order of magnitude improvement over commercially available microconfocal systems. Such systems allow non-invasive real-time 'virtual' histology imaging of whole tissue specimens without having to section and fix them. Characteristic morphological features can be visualized at sub-cellular scale and assessed to distinguish normal/benign from neoplastic tissue sites.
Collaborator Contribution Our collaborators are Prof. Kishan Dholakia and Dr. Stella Corsetti from the Optical manipulation and Biophotonics laboratory at University of St. Andrews. Prof. Kishan Dholakia and Dr. Stella Corsetti are working with us to investigate the use of open-top Light sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM) for rapid digital histology and to train our researcher regarding the LSFM system. The aim is to conduct clinical imaging experiments of LSFM system for breast and lung tissue imaging as well as potential collaborative project ideas.
Impact • Visit by Dr. Stella Corsetti (University of St. Andrews) in September 2018 to investigate the use of open-top Light sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM) - The LSFM system was shipped to St. Marys hospital and preliminary imaging studies were performed on 10 unfixed frozen breast tissue specimens belonging to normal, benign and neoplastic pathologies. From these experiments, it was possible to image large areas of breast tissue with ~200 um depth information. But system required alignment and post-processing of data which was very time consuming. - Feasibility tests to identify stains and clinical targets were carried out (using acriflavine and acridine orange) and comparisons with Hamlyn Confocal microscopy and histology results were made. Both stains were found to be suitable for the set ex vivo experiments. • Visit by Khushi Vyas to University of St. Andrews in January 2019 to get trained on LSFM system and plan clinical imaging experiments and potential collaborative project ideas. - Hands-on training on the LSFM was carried out and potential issues that might occur during clinical trials were identified. - Different scenarios of system misalignment were tested and debugging was done for imaging a variety of animal tissue specimens. - New strategies to reduce the system size were identified.
Start Year 2018
 
Description Wearable Robots for Stroke Rehabilitation 
Organisation University of Leeds
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution The Hamlyn Centre is investigating the rehabilitation need of stroke patients in their home settings. Through interviewing stroke patient groups/carers/physiotherapists and organising joint workshops, this project seeks to gather inputs from key stakeholders in the UK regarding challenges and requirements of rehabilitation robotic system.
Collaborator Contribution Our collaborator is Dr Zhiqiang Zhang from Faculty of Engineering at the University of Leeds. He is working with our researcher Dr Benny Lo for conducting the survey and organising the engineering workshop.
Impact Workshop in the Hamlyn Symposium 2019: Wearable and Assistive Robots Wearable robots, actuated prostheses and exoskeletons have made significant inroads in recent years for functional rehabilitation, restoration of natural mobility and enhancing musculoskeletal strength and endurance. Assistive robots also play a key role in managing the ageing population for general activities of daily living and remote presence for linking to specialist centres. The emergence of novel actuation schemes based on smart materials and sensing technologies has enabled the development of new wearable and assistive robots. The workshop aims to provide a forum to bring together researchers, engineers, and healthcare practitioners from a diverse range of disciplines to present the current state-of-the-art in wearable and assistive robots. It will also address some of the major technical challenges and unmet healthcare demands that can potentially reshape the future of wearable and assistive robots. The workshop will consist of invited talks from prominent experts in the field and peer-reviewed contributions submitted to the workshop. A panel discussion will be arranged at the end of the workshop with the aim to gather thoughts from the speakers and the audiences with respect to the future research directions.
Start Year 2018
 
Description EPSRC Scientific Advisory Board & Research Steering Group Bi-annual Meeting 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The Scientific Advisory Board & Research Steering Group members came to the Hamlyn Centre for participating the bi-annual meeting to examine our current research progress. Our research teams presented a series of demos as well as current progress presentation to all the members for demonstrating our works.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://twitter.com/ICLHamlynRobots/status/1088766049590394880
 
Description EPSRC-NIHR HTC Network+ Project Progress Presentation Meeting 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Study participants or study members
Results and Impact All the sub-project researchers of this grant present their current progress and remaining work to the PI for progress examination.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description Former Prime Minister Tony Blair Visit 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact The former Prime Minister Tony Blair visited Imperial College and toured the Hamlyn Centre for Robotics, viewing demonstrations of surgical robots, 3D printed microrobotic tools and augmented reality technology for medical imaging.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/187036/former-pm-supports-lord-darzi-report/
 
Description Friends of Imperial Visit 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Supporters
Results and Impact The Hamlyn Centre participated in the programme of "Friends of Imperial Visit" as one of visit destinations. Our research teams demonstrated the latest research result to the "Friends of Imperial Visit" participants and answered their questions regarding the works.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://www.friendsofimperial.org.uk/Media/Documents/Current_Programme.pdf
 
Description Hamlyn Centre Christmas Showcase 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact The Hamlyn Christmas Showcase was an event for collaborators and affiliates of the Hamlyn Centre that showcased the latest research outputs of the Hamlyn Centre. The aim was to communicate our research findings and encourage deeper collaboration.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Hamlyn Centre Induction Day 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Study participants or study members
Results and Impact The Hamlyn Centre Induction Day was an event for creating better connectivity within the Hamlyn team of over 80 researchers. With talks, networking activities and discussions, this event enabled MRes students, PhD students, researchers and support staff to engage and share ideas for development of Hamlyn initiatives.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Hamlyn Centre Official Twitter 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact The Hamlyn Centre Official Twitter account aims to reach out all types of audiences for demonstrating our research progress and result, promoting our events and sharing relevant information.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2019
URL https://twitter.com/ICLHamlynRobots
 
Description Hamlyn Winter School on Surgical Imaging and Vision 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact The Winter School focuses on both technical and clinical aspects of Surgical Imaging and Vision, with invited lectures, hands-on demonstrations, workshops, and mini-projects.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://hamlyn.doc.ic.ac.uk/winterschool/
 
Description Hamlyn Winter School on Surgical Imaging and Vision 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The Hamlyn Winter School focuses on both the technical and clinical aspects of Surgical Imaging and Vision. Through invited lectures, hands-on demonstrations, workshops, and mini-projects, the purpose of our winter school is to help researchers familiarise with the cutting edge research of this rapidly expanding field covering key areas of:

Fundamentals and current state-of-the-art in surgical imaging;
Vision algorithms for tracking, 3D scene reconstruction and surgical navigation;
Intra-operative registration and retargeting;
Multi-modal image fusion and real-time augmented reality systems based on inverse realism;
Robot assisted large area microscopic imaging and mosaicing;
Dynamic active constraints with real-time vision;
Vision enabled surgical robot design and miniaturisation.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018,2019
URL https://www.imperial.ac.uk/hamlyn-centre/news-and-events/hamlyn-winter-school-on-surgical-imaging-an...
 
Description Invited Talk- Prof Itaru Kitahara: 3D-CG Virtual Surgical Operation in University of Tsukuba 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Our senior research fellow Dr Matina Giannarou invited Prof. Itaru Kitahara to share the experience about "3D-CG Virtual Surgical Operation in University of Tsukuba" with our researchers in the Hamlyn Centre. Prof. Itaru Kitahara is leading the Virtual Surgery research project at the University of Tsukuba, Japan and his research focuses on Computer Vision and Mixed Reality. During the talk, he not only introduced "3D CG Virtual Surgery", which aims to realise a navigation system of surgical operation using Computer Vision and AR/VR techniques, but also presented the collaboration between their research team and the medical doctors in our university regarding 3D CG Virtual Surgery.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://twitter.com/ICLHamlynRobots/status/1102943972790542336
 
Description Invited Talk- Prof Jackrit Suthakorn: the past, present and future of the BART LAB 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Prof Jackrit Suthakorn, the BART LAB executive director and the department chair of Department of Biomedical Engineering at Mahidol University, visited the Hamlyn Centre on Monday 25th January 2019. He gave a talk regarding the development of the BART LAB as well as their current research areas and progress in robotics for extreme environment as well as rehabilitation to the Hamlyn Centre researchers and members.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description Minister of State for Immigration Caroline Nokes MP and Cancer Research UK Visit 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact Caroline Nokes MP, Minister of State for Immigration, visited Imperial in October 2018 and took a tour of the Hamlyn Centre for Robotic Surgery. She was joined by representatives of Cancer Research UK and our college president Alice Gast. During the visit, Caroline Nokes was shown some of our latest robot technology in medicine, developments which have enabled healthcare professionals to conduct smarter operations with higher precision.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL http://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/188691/immigration-minister-sees-benefits-internationalism-imperial/
 
Description Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies Workshop (London) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Workshop run as part of 9th Hamlyn Symposium on Medical Robotics
Following the presentations, discussions took place to discuss future collaborations and joint grant applications.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL http://hamlyn.doc.ic.ac.uk/hsmr/sites/default/files//HSMR-Prog-2016-FULL-FINAL.pdf
 
Description Robotic Sewing and Suturing: What Can We Learn From Each Other? 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact There are many similarities in the automation of needle and thread handling in the manufacturing and clinical fields and by bringing together these highly related specialisms, we asked: what can we learn from each other? The workshop aim was to stimulate discussion and encourage cross-fertilisation of new ideas in this niche yet increasing important area in surgery and innovative manufacturing. There were approximately 35 attendees from around the world, from industry, academia, and healthcare. Of particular interest was the involvement of a 3D embroidery artist, with knowledge shared between the various audience types and changes in views reported.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL http://hamlyn.doc.ic.ac.uk/hsmr/robotic-sewing-and-suturing-what-can-we-learn-each-other
 
Description School Robot Challenge 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The challenge will be run jointly by any interested UK-RAS partner universities, and is aimed at teams of schoolchildren of ages up to 16 (year 11). It will be published in the UK-RAS Robotics Week 2018 brochure and on the website, and will be distributed via each participating university's local schools' network.

The challenge will consist of 2 separate activities: the first involves schools working independently to develop and then submit a design(s) for a robot system to help older people. The deadline for submissions for this activity is 18/05/2018.

The best entries will then be chosen, with one winning team selected by each participating university (the proximity of school to university may or may not influence the decision), which will then invite that team to a special one-day event on 26/06/2018 (that is, the Tuesday of UK Robotics Week). After a tour of the robot labs, the teams will be set another similar care-themed challenge using whatever basic, programmable robotics equipment is to hand (e.g., Lego Mindstorms - there is no requirement for the same equipment to be used at each university). This activity will last from 10.30am until 3.30pm with a working lunch provided, and if possible live streaming of video from the other participating sites (also shown on the UK-RAS website). The goal of each team will be to produce a smartphone video of no longer than 1 minute's duration that describes the problem, the concept and design of their suggested solution, and - hopefully - shows their solution in action.

The videos will be uploaded to YouTube or similar. A panel of judges - one from each participating university - will view each of the videos, and then confer to select an overall winning team. (Some of) the winning team will then be invited to the UK Robotics Week Showcase event on Thursday 21st June, where they will receive a prize (budget permitting) on behalf of their school.

The suggested text publicising the challenge is below. (Note that it is not intended to be as explicit as the above text to allow for some flexibility in the format to take into account the number and quality of submissions, budget available, participating universities, etc., and all dates are subject to confirmation.)


The UK-RAS Health and Social Care Challenge 2018

We invite schools to submit their designs for a robotic system that addresses the challenge of how to help older people stay healthy and live independent lives. Submissions should be the work of teams of up to 8 children aged 16 or under. Entries can be in any format, should be no longer than 1000 words (or equivalent) in length, and each school may submit an unlimited number of entries.

The closing date for submissions is Friday 18th May. The judging panel will then select the best entries, with submissions being judged according to their usefulness, practicality and creativity. The winning teams will be invited to a special one-day event on Tuesday 26th June at their nearest UK-RAS University, during which they will visit our robotics facilities to learn more about our research, and then get to develop and test their own robots.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL http://hamlyn.doc.ic.ac.uk/uk-ras/events/school-robot-challenge
 
Description Surgical Imaging Workshop at Hamlyn Symposium 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The Surgical Imaging Workshop at the Hamlyn Symposium in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 brought together clinicians, computer scientists and engineers from academia and industry to share the latest developments in the fields of surgical imaging, image guidance and
augmented reality in surgery. The scope was broad, covering imaging technologies (including clinical
systems and applications) as well as the technical aspects of registration, modelling and visualisation.
Through the development and fusion of imaging modalities, and the enhancement of the surgeon's
sensory experience, participants in this exciting area of research hope to transform surgical practice.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2012,2013,2014,2015,2016
URL http://www.hamlyn-robotics.org/
 
Description Surgical Imaging, Guidance and Augmented Reality (London) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Workshop took place as part of 9th Hamlyn Symposium on Medical Robotics.
Further discussions took place on future collaboration and grant applications.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL http://hamlyn.doc.ic.ac.uk/hsmr/sites/default/files//HSMR-Prog-2016-FULL-FINAL.pdf
 
Description Surgical Robot Challenge 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact The aim of this challenge is to exploit the unique expertise of the consortium in medical robotics to develop low-cost robot-assisted surgical and diagnostic devices that can benefit the NHS as well as be used as solutions for global health.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://hamlyn.doc.ic.ac.uk/hsmr/events/surgical-robot-challenge-2017
 
Description Surrey University: To host the 18th TAROS 2017 as an official event of UK Robotics Week 2017 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact TAROS is a platform for RAS researchers from worldwide, and welcomes paper submissions on a wide range of topics related to the principles and practice of robotics, including but not limited to:

Advanced applications of autonomous robots (industrial and research)
Advanced medical robotics; Robots for surgery; Assistive robotics; Intelligent prostheses
Applications development, hardware issues, devices and techniques, advanced sensors and actuators
Autonomous assembly robotics; Modular reconfigurable robots; Evolutionary robotics
Autonomous vehicles; driverless cars
Bio-mimetic and bio-inspired robotics; Bio-hybrid robotic systems; Humanoid robotics
Cognitive robotics; Developmental robotics
Ethical and societal issues in robotics; Robots in education, the arts and entertainment; Personal robotics
Field robotics, Space and planetary robotics
Human-robot interaction and interfaces
Learning and adaptation
Long-term interaction and operation
Modelling and analysis of robot models
Navigation, localization, map building and path planning; Analysis of robot-environment interaction
Robot autonomy including energy self-sufficiency; Robot control architectures; Robot vision, sensing and perception
Robot communication and language
Safety, verification and validation for robotic applications
Service robotics
Soft robotics
Swarm robotics; Collective robots
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://www.surrey.ac.uk/taros2017
 
Description The Hamlyn Centre Christmas Showcase 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Supporters
Results and Impact The Hamlyn Christmas Showcase is an event that showcased the latest research outputs form our research teams at the Hamlyn Centre. Every year we invite our collaborators and affiliates to participate this event in order to demonstrate our research findings and to discuss potential further collaboration.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016,2017,2018,2019
URL https://twitter.com/ICLHamlynRobots/status/1073577685488754688
 
Description The Hamlyn Centre Official Website 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact The Hamlyn Centre Official website aims to engage with all types of audiences for introducing our centre purpose and structure as well as our research areas and environment. On the website, we also constantly update job opportunities, event information and News from our research teams as well as the Imperial College.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2010,2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2019
URL https://www.imperial.ac.uk/hamlyn-centre/
 
Description The Hamlyn Symposium 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The Hamlyn Symposium on Medical Robotics (HSMR) provides an annual forum for surgeons and engineers from across the globe, to network and explore the latest developments in medical robotics. The Symposium has been successfully conducted for the past 11 years and has become a leading international conference on medical robotics, current clinical practice and emerging technologies in robotic surgery. Every year researchers, clinicians and engineers are invited to submit papers on a range of topics covering clinical specialities in Urology, Cardiac Surgery, Neuro Surgery, Thoracic Surgery, General Surgery, Gynaecology, ENT, Orthopaedic and Paediatric Surgery. The Hamlyn Symposium is composed of a series of workshops on various clinical and technical topics and the main conference with the participants from leading medical, science and technology institutions.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2006,2007,2008,2009,2010,2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2019
URL https://www.ukras.org/hamlyn/
 
Description UK Robotics Week 2017 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Acting autonomously or in close collaboration with humans, Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) have a broad range of new and established applications. As the underlying technologies are further developed and translated from laboratory settings to real-world applications, RAS is playing an increasingly important role in the UK's economy and it's future growth.

The UK-RAS Network was established with the mission to provide academic leadership, expand collaboration with industry and integrate and coordinate activities at the EPSRC funded RAS capital facilities, Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs) and partner universities across the UK.

We are delighted with last year's inaugural UK Robotics Week and proud to build on its success with this year's event. The UK Robotics Week provides a spotlight on the UK's technology leadership in RAS, and engages the nation's schools, colleges and universities in developing the digital skills needed to drive the UK's future economy.

The UK Robotics Week also acts as a forum for discussion of technological, commercial, legal, ethical and social aspects of robotics. The wide range of events covered, from symposia, workshops, conferences, festivals, competitions and hackathons, contribute to a thriving programme across the country. We endeavour to provide promotion to other robotics related events in the calendar and aim to ensure robotics remains high on the government's agenda as one of the transformative technologies of the present and future.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://hamlyn.doc.ic.ac.uk/roboticsweek2017/welcome
 
Description Workshop in the Hamlyn Symposium: Advanced Biophotonics: from bench to bedside 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact With increasing maturity and clinical uptake of Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS), the provision of in situ, in vivo morphological and functional imaging beyond the exposed tissue surface has become an important research topic.

Clinically, it further expands the functional capabilities of MIS in providing improved tissue detection, labelling, and targeting both at macro and cellular levels. Point based spectroscopic approaches such as diffuse reflectance, Raman and fluorescence spectroscopy have been shown to be clinically useful for in vivo assessment of cancer, atherosclerosis and ischemia.

Imaging techniques such as optical coherence tomography (OCT), probe-based Confocal Laser Endomicroscopy (pCLE), and two photon excited fluorescence and magnified endoscopy have shown promising results for in situ, in vivo tissue characterization for MIS.

This workshop will bring clinicians together with researchers in academia and industry to exchange ideas on the current state-of-the-art and future trends in optical imaging techniques for surgery with a focus on robot assisted intervention.

The scope of the workshop is broad, and includes both established and emerging technologies for image-guided surgery but with a specific focus on technologies that can be seamlessly integrated with the surgical environment.

It will also include online decision support, content-based image retrieval/association, and optopathology to enable in situ, in vivo tissue characterisation and surgical oncology. The workshop will include several invited talks, and we also welcome submissions from Symposium attendees.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018,2019
URL https://www.ukras.org/hamlyn/workshops/advanced-biophotonics-from-bench-to-bedside/
 
Description Workshop in the Hamlyn Symposium: Emerging Learning Techniques for Robotics 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Learning is a rapidly advancing field in recent years, in terms of both methodological development and practical applications. In medical robotics, computational models are able to learn with supervision or without supervision to facilitate intricate medical interventions, i.e. cancer detection and autonomous suturing. It can implicitly capture task principles and repeat it with comparable accuracy, robustness and time-efficiency.

Whilst some of the technical challenges are still being addressed, including generative modelling, large-scale parameter optimisation, and handling heterogeneous multi-modal data with varying temporal dependencies and missing samples, its use for medical robotics has reached marked success. Examples include the use of deep learning for tissue characterisation and the use of reinforcement learning for catheter manipulation. Other applications include surgical vision, navigation, learning, adaptation and task automation.

The purpose of this workshop is to report the latest advances in the field of learning for medical robotics, addressing both original algorithmic development and new applications of deep learning.

Topics for this special issue include, but are not limited to:

Learning for surgical vision and navigation;
Learning for tissue characterisation, optical biopsy and margin assessment;
Learning for learning, adaptation and surgical task completion.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://www.ukras.org/hamlyn/workshops/emerging-learning-techniques-for-robotics/
 
Description Workshop in the Hamlyn Symposium: Focused Energy Delivery & Precision Intervention 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Accessing to human anatomy through natural orifices or small incisions (keyholes), navigating through lumens of body, medical robotics are advancing to overcome challenges associated with access and precision, allowing rapid diagnostics and precise localization of diseases of different stages. As the surgical tools you can bring to the robotic surgical site is quite limited due to space restrictions, the energy source for the precise and safe removal of these malignancies should be carefully selected to satisfy a number of criteria such as adequate target tissue interaction, critical anatomy protection, selected ablation, coagulation and even helping tissue identification. Selected energy source potentially brings further challenges associated with flexible and low-profile delivery mechanisms to be integrated with existing robotic technologies as well as with the new technologies under development.

In this workshop, we will hear from clinicians their preferred energy sources for different types of surgeries, what improvement they would like to see, and get their feedback on integration of these in robotic surgery, current state of art and their expectations from advancements in medial robotics. We will have technical talks on recent advancements in various energy sources currently used in medicine such as electrical, ultrasonic (harmonic scalpel, HIFU) and laser energies, their delivery mechanisms and the progress in integration of these technologies to medical robotics.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018,2019
URL https://www.ukras.org/hamlyn/workshops/focused-energy-delivery-precision-intervention/
 
Description Workshop in the Hamlyn Symposium: From BCI to Human Robot Augmentation 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Artificial intelligence along with advances in wearable robotics and sensing systems pave the way towards embedded systems that form a natural extension of human physical abilities. Seamless integration of these systems would require the development of advanced systems that sense human intentions and mental states such as workload and fatigue.

Brain computer/machine interface (BCI/BMI) has already broken down barriers for the physically disabled, restoring the ability to communicate, enhancing rehabilitation for paretic patients and allowing control of movements for paraplegic patients that would otherwise be impossible. These systems advance our understanding of the underlying motor learning mechanisms as they alter the mapping between neuronal activity and feedback control. Furthermore, the technology has been used to assess cognitive states for mental training and attention monitoring in safety critical tasks.

This workshop aims to provide a forum to bring together neuroscientists, engineers, and healthcare practitioners from a diverse range of disciplines to present the current state-of-the-art in Brain Computer Interface research for rehabilitation and mental state assessment in critical applications. It will also present some of the major technical challenges and unmet healthcare demands that can potentially reshape the future of rehabilitation robotics and wearable devices.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018,2019
URL https://www.ukras.org/hamlyn/workshops/from-bci-to-human-robot-augmentation/
 
Description Workshop in the Hamlyn Symposium: Wearable & Assistive Robots 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Wearable robots, actuated prostheses and exoskeletons have made significant inroads in recent years for functional rehabilitation, restoration of natural mobility and enhancing musculoskeletal strength and endurance.

Assistive robots also play a key role in managing the ageing population for general activities of daily living and remote presence for linking to specialist centres. The emergence of novel actuation schemes based on smart materials and sensing technologies has enabled the development of new wearable and assistive robots.

The workshop aims to provide a forum to bring together researchers, engineers, and healthcare practitioners from a diverse range of disciplines to present the current state-of-the-art in wearable and assistive robots. It will also address some of the major technical challenges and unmet healthcare demands that can potentially reshape the future of wearable and assistive robots.

The workshop will consist of invited talks from prominent experts in the field and peer-reviewed contributions submitted to the workshop. A panel discussion will be arranged at the end of the workshop with the aim to gather thoughts from the speakers and the audiences with respect to the future research directions.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018,2019
URL https://www.ukras.org/hamlyn/workshops/wearable-assistive-robots/
 
Description Workshop in the Hamlyn Symposium: Wearable & Assistive Robots & Devices 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Wearable devices and robots have made significant advances in recent years for rehabilitation, restoration of natural mobility and enhancing musculoskeletal strength and endurance. Assistive devices and robots have also played a key role in managing the ageing population for general activities of daily living and remote presence for linking to specialist centres. The emergence of novel sensing and actuation schemes based on smart materials has enabled the development of new wearable and assistive robots and devices. The workshop aims to provide a forum to bring together researchers, engineers, and healthcare practitioners from a diverse range of disciplines to present the current state-of-the-art in wearable and assistive technologies. It will also address some of the major technical challenges and unmet healthcare demands that can potentially reshape the future of wearable and assistive robots and devices.

Topics to be covered:

• Bio-sensing and wearable sensing technologies
• Context aware sensing and intention detection
• Assistive robot design and control for healthcare applications
• Exoskeletons and actuated prostheses
• Novel kinematics, actuation schemes and smart materials
• Neuro-interface for human robot interaction
• Human-robot interaction
• Human factor design and Ergonomics (device design, comfort and user acceptance)
• Clinical applications (e.g. post-surgical recovery, stroke rehabilitation)
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description Workshop in the Hamlyn Symposium: e-skins and Advanced Materials for Soft Robotics 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact There is a growing need for electronic and sensing devices that can conform to non-flat surfaces and that can accommodate mechanical motions and stresses. Such devices are needed for wearable electronics applications such as physiological monitoring of patients and athletes, but also for prosthetic devices (artificial limbs), robotics and brain-machine interfaces. There is a particular need for such electronic skins for surgical robotic devices. To introduce flexibility and stretchability, a move away from traditional materials and fabrication processes is needed.

This has given rise to the field of flexible/stretchable electronics. This workshop will cover the aforementioned aspects within the context of realising e-skins that can introduce sensing intelligence to robotics, surgical tools, artificial limbs and wearable devices.

The workshop features researchers from leading medical, science and technology institutions covering topics including clinical needs and the latest developments of sensing technologies and new materials in medical innovation and healthcare and their application to robotics. There is still great potential for advancing the state of the art, with a need for further miniaturisation, increased functionality, in situ computation and signal processing and sensing capabilities.

What are the research directions we should focus?
What are the challenges yet to be addressed?
How does the future look?

An open panel discussion will summarise these and bring the workshop to a conclusion.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016,2017,2018,2019
URL https://www.ukras.org/hamlyn/workshops/e-skins-and-advanced-materials-for-soft-robotics/
 
Description Workshop on Human-Robot Interactions Applied to Health 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact As part of the Hamlyn Symposium 10th anniversary on Medical Robotics, a workshop was run. This workshop was for academics, industry and show casing the latest technologies for medical robotics and latest research.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL https://www.dropbox.com/s/5uobgz4tjq7c1ue/HSMR17_programme-FINAL.pdf?dl=0
 
Description Workshop on Image Guided Therapies 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact As part of the Hamlyn Symposium 10th anniversary on Medical Robotics, a workshop was run. This workshop was for academics, industry and show casing the latest technologies for medical robotics and latest research.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL https://www.dropbox.com/s/5uobgz4tjq7c1ue/HSMR17_programme-FINAL.pdf?dl=0
 
Description Workshop on Micro-Robotics and Micro-Fabrication 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact As part of the Hamlyn Symposium 10th anniversary on Medical Robotics, a workshop was run. This workshop was for academics, industry and show casing the latest technologies for medical robotics and latest research.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL https://www.dropbox.com/s/5uobgz4tjq7c1ue/HSMR17_programme-FINAL.pdf?dl=0
 
Description Workshop on Next Generation Continuum Robots 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact As part of the Hamlyn Symposium 10th anniversary on Medical Robotics, a workshop was run. This workshop was for academics, industry and show casing the latest technologies for medical robotics and latest research.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL https://www.dropbox.com/s/5uobgz4tjq7c1ue/HSMR17_programme-FINAL.pdf?dl=0
 
Description Workshop on Robotic Catheters 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact As part of the Hamlyn Symposium 10th anniversary on Medical Robotics, a workshop was run. This workshop was for academics, industry and show casing the latest technologies for medical robotics and latest research.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL https://www.dropbox.com/s/5uobgz4tjq7c1ue/HSMR17_programme-FINAL.pdf?dl=0
 
Description Workshop on Robotically Assisted Paediatric Interventions 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact As part of the Hamlyn Symposium 10th anniversary on Medical Robotics, a workshop was run. This workshop was for academics, industry and show casing the latest technologies for medical robotics and latest research.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL https://www.dropbox.com/s/5uobgz4tjq7c1ue/HSMR17_programme-FINAL.pdf?dl=0
 
Description Workshop on Soft Robotics Across Scales 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact As part of the Hamlyn Symposium 10th anniversary on Medical Robotics, a workshop was run. This workshop was for academics, industry and show casing the latest technologies for medical robotics and latest research.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL https://www.dropbox.com/s/5uobgz4tjq7c1ue/HSMR17_programme-FINAL.pdf?dl=0
 
Description Workshop on Surgical Robotics: First in Human - What does it take? 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact As part of the Hamlyn Symposium 10th anniversary on Medical Robotics, a workshop was run. This workshop was for academics, industry and show casing the latest technologies for medical robotics and latest research.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://hamlyn.doc.ic.ac.uk/hsmr/surgical-robotics-first-human-what-does-it-take
 
Description Workshop on Surgical Work?ow and Process Modelling 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact As part of the Hamlyn Symposium 10th anniversary on Medical Robotics, a workshop was run. This workshop was for academics, industry and show casing the latest technologies for medical robotics and latest research.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL https://www.dropbox.com/s/5uobgz4tjq7c1ue/HSMR17_programme-FINAL.pdf?dl=0