Ultra-low-cost endoscopy for gastric cancer screening in rural China
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leeds
Department Name: Electronic and Electrical Engineering
Abstract
We propose to optimise, assess, and validate a novel portable platform designed to enable ultra-low-cost gastroesophageal cancer screening in remote settings, with a focus on rural and underdeveloped areas of China where this disease has a very high incidence and mortality.
Gastric cancer and oesophageal cancers have the highest global mortality rates among other forms of cancer. More than one third of new cases worldwide are concentrated in China. Only in 2015, more than one million people were diagnosed with this form of cancer in China and more than 870,000 have died because from the morbidity. Screening programmes have been shown to be extremely effective in reducing the mortality rate through early detection, but are expensive and difficult to implement in low-resource settings and rural areas. This is particularly relevant in China, where inequitable distribution of medical resources to urban areas (which contain 30% of the population but receive 70% of the medical resources), shortage of doctors in rural regions and greater distance to access them translate into a very large cancer survival divide. While incidence of gastric and oesophageal cancers is about double in rural areas when compared to urban centres, the mortality rate is about three times higher.
In order to reduce the larger proportion of patients diagnosed with cancer at a later stage in rural and underdeveloped areas in China, there is a pressing need to develop cost-efficient and sustainable technologies for endoscopic gastric and oesophageal cancer screening, which are the focus of this project.
Leveraging our pioneering work in the field of robotic capsule endoscopes, our team has developed a novel disposable, soft-tethered, swallowable, endoscopic capsule, with the aim of enabling cost effective gastroesophageal cancer screening in rural areas of low- and middle-income countries. Design innovations include water-jet actuation for mobility and visualization, a portable platform, and disposable components. After each procedure, the capsule outer shell and soft tether are discarded, while the endoscopic camera is reclaimed without reprocessing. The miniature tethered "pill camera" facilitates a comfortable unsedated cancer screening exam (target cost per procedure £2 and capital cost ca. £400 vs £80,000 for existing technology). The proposed platform is designed to fit in a single suitcase (airline carry-on size, 10kg).
Building upon our preliminary results, with this study we will test the hypothesis that the clinical diagnostic capabilities of our platform are comparable to standard gastroscopy, while the reliability, usability, and portability for rural settings are significantly improved. We will pursue this goal by (1) improving the range of motion of our endoscopic capsule, (2) optimizing the controllability and the stability of the capsule, (3) using the images acquired by the on-board camera to guide autonomous exploration and detection of lesions, (4) benchmarking the proposed technology with standard gastroscopy in multiple validation scenarios, spanning from laboratory testing to pre-clinical field trials in the rural setting of Hebei province, China, (5) assembling the required pre-clinical documentation to initiate clinical trials.
Our long-term goal is to develop a gastroesophageal cancer screening programme for rural China, which builds upon the technology and the experimental evidence originating from this proposal. We aim for our research to become a platform for establishing a feasible model for upper gastrointestinal cancer screening at an ultra-low cost that can be implemented in rural and poorly resourced areas. The approach can be extended to other low- and middle-income countries (nearly 70% of gastric and oesophageal cancer cases are concentrated in these areas) or equally to modern healthcare systems, where cost savings may be achieved through performing screening in day care units.
Gastric cancer and oesophageal cancers have the highest global mortality rates among other forms of cancer. More than one third of new cases worldwide are concentrated in China. Only in 2015, more than one million people were diagnosed with this form of cancer in China and more than 870,000 have died because from the morbidity. Screening programmes have been shown to be extremely effective in reducing the mortality rate through early detection, but are expensive and difficult to implement in low-resource settings and rural areas. This is particularly relevant in China, where inequitable distribution of medical resources to urban areas (which contain 30% of the population but receive 70% of the medical resources), shortage of doctors in rural regions and greater distance to access them translate into a very large cancer survival divide. While incidence of gastric and oesophageal cancers is about double in rural areas when compared to urban centres, the mortality rate is about three times higher.
In order to reduce the larger proportion of patients diagnosed with cancer at a later stage in rural and underdeveloped areas in China, there is a pressing need to develop cost-efficient and sustainable technologies for endoscopic gastric and oesophageal cancer screening, which are the focus of this project.
Leveraging our pioneering work in the field of robotic capsule endoscopes, our team has developed a novel disposable, soft-tethered, swallowable, endoscopic capsule, with the aim of enabling cost effective gastroesophageal cancer screening in rural areas of low- and middle-income countries. Design innovations include water-jet actuation for mobility and visualization, a portable platform, and disposable components. After each procedure, the capsule outer shell and soft tether are discarded, while the endoscopic camera is reclaimed without reprocessing. The miniature tethered "pill camera" facilitates a comfortable unsedated cancer screening exam (target cost per procedure £2 and capital cost ca. £400 vs £80,000 for existing technology). The proposed platform is designed to fit in a single suitcase (airline carry-on size, 10kg).
Building upon our preliminary results, with this study we will test the hypothesis that the clinical diagnostic capabilities of our platform are comparable to standard gastroscopy, while the reliability, usability, and portability for rural settings are significantly improved. We will pursue this goal by (1) improving the range of motion of our endoscopic capsule, (2) optimizing the controllability and the stability of the capsule, (3) using the images acquired by the on-board camera to guide autonomous exploration and detection of lesions, (4) benchmarking the proposed technology with standard gastroscopy in multiple validation scenarios, spanning from laboratory testing to pre-clinical field trials in the rural setting of Hebei province, China, (5) assembling the required pre-clinical documentation to initiate clinical trials.
Our long-term goal is to develop a gastroesophageal cancer screening programme for rural China, which builds upon the technology and the experimental evidence originating from this proposal. We aim for our research to become a platform for establishing a feasible model for upper gastrointestinal cancer screening at an ultra-low cost that can be implemented in rural and poorly resourced areas. The approach can be extended to other low- and middle-income countries (nearly 70% of gastric and oesophageal cancer cases are concentrated in these areas) or equally to modern healthcare systems, where cost savings may be achieved through performing screening in day care units.
Planned Impact
Globally, gastroesophageal cancer account for over 10% of incident cancers, affecting the life of more than a million new people every year. While this cancer is a global phenomena, nearly 40% of new cases worldwide are concentrated in China, counting for more than 1.1 million new diagnosis and more than 870,000 deaths only in 2015. While incidence of gastroesophageal cancer is about double in rural areas when compared to urban centres, the mortality rate is almost three times higher. This is due to the inequitable distribution of medical resources to urban areas (which contain 30% of the population but receive 70% of the medical resources), shortage of doctors in rural regions and greater distance to access them.
Screening programmes have been shown to be effective in reducing the mortality rate through early detection. Typically, screening for gastroesophageal cancer uses a video endoscope system consisting of a flexible endoscope, video processor, light source and instrument hub, and liquid crystal display monitor. These systems are appropriate in modern medical settings, but many issues hinder their usage in rural and underdeveloped areas: high capital costs, limited portability, vulnerable electronics, and reprocessing concerns along with lack of sterilisation facilities.
In order to reduce the larger proportion of patients diagnosed with cancer at a later stage in rural and underdeveloped areas in China and other low-and middle-income countries (LMICs), there is a pressing need to develop cost-efficient and sustainable technologies for endoscopic gastroesophageal cancer screening.
With a compact footprint, minimal cost of disposable parts, and use of available local resources, the platform we propose would enable cancer-screening programmes in LMICs, particularly in rural or remote areas with limited access to medical infrastructure. Our solution is intended as a pure diagnostic tool with the intent of identifying suspicious lesions optically and then triaging patients to a regional or central urban endoscopy centre for traditional therapeutic endoscopy with biopsies/mucosal resection. With our technology, we are targeting a population that would otherwise not be screened and be subject to high disease incidence and mortality due to the numerous barriers to standard flexible endoscopic screening in rural areas of China.
Autonomous navigation, based on visual servoing and proprioceptive sensing, would allow the system to move the capsule with no input from an external operator. Integration of intelligent cancer feature recognition would enable direct diagnosis by the platform, thus preventing the need for a gastroenterologist on site to perform the procedure. Healthcare professionals without a specific training in gastroenterology, nurses, or even volunteers would be able to administer the screening exam, recording the images for later examination. Once the team is back at a central hospital, a gastroenterologist can review the suspicious lesions highlighted by the feature recognition software and decide if further diagnostic examination is needed.
In order to maximise the impact of the proposed research, we have conceived a specific strategy for the Chinese socio-economical landscape that starts from the identification of potential users and evolves in three different phases: a pre-clinical stage (Y1..Y3 - during this project), a clinical trial stage (Y4-Y5), and a commercialization stage (Y5 and beyond).
If successful, this research will establish a feasible model for upper gastrointestinal cancer screening at an ultra-low cost that can be implemented in rural and underserved areas. This approach can be extended to other LMICs (nearly 70% of gastric and oesophageal cancer cases are concentrated there) or even to modern healthcare systems, where relevant cost savings may be achieved.
Screening programmes have been shown to be effective in reducing the mortality rate through early detection. Typically, screening for gastroesophageal cancer uses a video endoscope system consisting of a flexible endoscope, video processor, light source and instrument hub, and liquid crystal display monitor. These systems are appropriate in modern medical settings, but many issues hinder their usage in rural and underdeveloped areas: high capital costs, limited portability, vulnerable electronics, and reprocessing concerns along with lack of sterilisation facilities.
In order to reduce the larger proportion of patients diagnosed with cancer at a later stage in rural and underdeveloped areas in China and other low-and middle-income countries (LMICs), there is a pressing need to develop cost-efficient and sustainable technologies for endoscopic gastroesophageal cancer screening.
With a compact footprint, minimal cost of disposable parts, and use of available local resources, the platform we propose would enable cancer-screening programmes in LMICs, particularly in rural or remote areas with limited access to medical infrastructure. Our solution is intended as a pure diagnostic tool with the intent of identifying suspicious lesions optically and then triaging patients to a regional or central urban endoscopy centre for traditional therapeutic endoscopy with biopsies/mucosal resection. With our technology, we are targeting a population that would otherwise not be screened and be subject to high disease incidence and mortality due to the numerous barriers to standard flexible endoscopic screening in rural areas of China.
Autonomous navigation, based on visual servoing and proprioceptive sensing, would allow the system to move the capsule with no input from an external operator. Integration of intelligent cancer feature recognition would enable direct diagnosis by the platform, thus preventing the need for a gastroenterologist on site to perform the procedure. Healthcare professionals without a specific training in gastroenterology, nurses, or even volunteers would be able to administer the screening exam, recording the images for later examination. Once the team is back at a central hospital, a gastroenterologist can review the suspicious lesions highlighted by the feature recognition software and decide if further diagnostic examination is needed.
In order to maximise the impact of the proposed research, we have conceived a specific strategy for the Chinese socio-economical landscape that starts from the identification of potential users and evolves in three different phases: a pre-clinical stage (Y1..Y3 - during this project), a clinical trial stage (Y4-Y5), and a commercialization stage (Y5 and beyond).
If successful, this research will establish a feasible model for upper gastrointestinal cancer screening at an ultra-low cost that can be implemented in rural and underserved areas. This approach can be extended to other LMICs (nearly 70% of gastric and oesophageal cancer cases are concentrated there) or even to modern healthcare systems, where relevant cost savings may be achieved.
Publications
Zhou J
(2023)
Shifted-windows transformers for the detection of cerebral aneurysms in microsurgery
in International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery
Zhang Y
(2022)
Large-scale surgical workflow segmentation for laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy.
in International journal of computer assisted radiology and surgery
Yin L
(2018)
Water-jet outer sheath with braided shape memory polymer tubes for upper gastrointestinal tract screening.
in The international journal of medical robotics + computer assisted surgery : MRCAS
Wang N
(2023)
Vision-and-Force-Based Compliance Control for a Posterior Segment Ophthalmic Surgical Robot
in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
Wang N
(2022)
A 5-DOFs Robot for Posterior Segment Eye Microsurgery
in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
Wang C
(2020)
Ultrasound 3D reconstruction of malignant masses in robotic-assisted partial nephrectomy using the PAF rail system: a comparison study.
in International journal of computer assisted radiology and surgery
Van Berkel N
(2020)
Designing Visual Markers for Continuous Artificial Intelligence Support A Colonoscopy Case Study
in ACM Transactions on Computing for Healthcare
Van Amsterdam B
(2021)
Gesture Recognition in Robotic Surgery: a Review
Van Amsterdam B
(2021)
Gesture Recognition in Robotic Surgery: A Review.
in IEEE transactions on bio-medical engineering
Description | Results achieved include the characterization, modelling and validation of an ultra-low-cost platform for gastric cancer screening based on jets of water and of its variation using shape-memory polymers, a low-cost platform for abdominal surgery based on rotating magnets, an innovative solution for visual inspection of the stomach with a disposable pneumatic device, image recognition algorithm to localise anatomical landmarks and lesions in the gastrointestinal tract, the use of artificial intelligence in gastrointestinal endoscopy and control strategies for endoscopic robots. All these scientific findings are crucial to the development of ultra-low-cost technologies for gastroesophageal cancer screening in rural areas of countries such as China and India with which we strongly collaborate. |
Exploitation Route | We have built a strong network of international relations that include a company in the USA (Johnson and Johnson) and one in China (Wego) that are interested in transitioning our technology to clinical use and a rural hospital in India (BKL Walawalker Rural Medical College & Hospital) that is interested in running first-in-human trials of our platform. |
Sectors | Healthcare |
Description | We have already disseminated our approach and preliminary results to a vast audience with different engagement activities, several Keynote speeches, best paper awards, patent applications, and a high number of peer-reviewed scientific papers. We also had a strong influence on policy by participating as expert panelist in the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care commissioned "Topol Review: Preparing the healthcare workforce to deliver the digital future" and showcasing our work to ministers of the government. The target audience included engineering and medical students in rural areas of India and China, various stakeholders in the field of global health gravitating around the WHO, international clinicians and medical engineers, and the general public. |
First Year Of Impact | 2017 |
Sector | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Healthcare,Government, Democracy and Justice,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology |
Impact Types | Societal Policy & public services |
Description | Contribution to Topol Review |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
Impact | In 2018, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care commissioned The Topol Review: Preparing the healthcare workforce to deliver the digital future, as part of the strategy. The Topol Review, led by cardiologist, geneticist, and digital medicine researcher Dr Eric Topol and produced by HEE, explores how to prepare the healthcare workforce, through education and training, to deliver the digital future. The Topol Review makes recommendations that will enable NHS staff to make the most of innovative technologies such as genomics, digital medicine, artificial intelligence and robotics to improve services. These recommendations support the aims of the NHS Long-Term Plan, and the workforce implementation plan, helping to ensure a sustainable NHS. Prof. Valdastri, PI for this grant, was involved in the Review as Expert in the Robotics and AI panel. |
URL | https://www.hee.nhs.uk/our-work/topol-review |
Description | Ministerial visit |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Implementation circular/rapid advice/letter to e.g. Ministry of Health |
URL | https://www.leeds.ac.uk/forstaff/news/article/6984/universities_minister_visits_campus |
Description | UK-RAS White Paper on Surgical Robotics |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Implementation circular/rapid advice/letter to e.g. Ministry of Health |
URL | https://www.ukras.org.uk/publications/white-papers/surgical-robotics-towards-measurable-patient-bene... |
Description | Actuated Robotic Imaging Skins |
Amount | £2,780,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Royal Academy of Engineering |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2019 |
End | 09/2029 |
Description | CADDIE - Computer Aided Detection and Diagnosis for Intelligent Endoscopy |
Amount | £584,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Innovate UK |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 04/2019 |
End | 04/2021 |
Description | EARTH SCAN |
Amount | £1,200,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | European Space Agency |
Sector | Public |
Country | France |
Start | 11/2019 |
End | 10/2022 |
Description | EndoMapper: Real-time mapping from endoscopic video |
Amount | € 3,697,227 (EUR) |
Organisation | European Commission |
Sector | Public |
Country | European Union (EU) |
Start | 12/2019 |
End | 11/2023 |
Description | Global Health Research |
Amount | £1,993,793 (GBP) |
Funding ID | 16/137/44 |
Organisation | National Institute for Health Research |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 05/2017 |
End | 05/2020 |
Title | Depth from Endoscopy |
Description | The database containts a set of paired images from a colonoscopy/endoscopy simulator that generates RGB images and also depth images. The data can be used to train models to infer depth from RGB and extended to infer the motion of the camera and the map of the endoluminal environment. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | We are seeing groups world wide beginnging to use the dataset both in academie and in industry (recent Google Health publication). |
URL | http://cmic.cs.ucl.ac.uk/ColonoscopyDepth/ |
Description | Collaboration with Johnson & Johnson -- Center for Device Innovation |
Organisation | Johnson & Johnson |
Department | Johnson & Johnson Innovation (JJDC) |
Country | United States |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | The Center for Device Innovation at Johnson & Johnson is extremely interested in the development of our research and potentially interested in licensing the IP related to the device that we are currently validating. |
Collaborator Contribution | J&J CDT provided valuale feedback about the design of our low-cost upper GI endoscope |
Impact | Meeting at J&J CDT in September 2019. Letter of collaboration from J&J CDT for a CRUK grant application that was not funded. Continued Skype calls with J&J CDT to monitor progresses. |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Collaboration with Odin Vision Ltd |
Organisation | Odin Vision |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Research and supervision of PhD students to develop novel AI technologies for endoscopy. |
Collaborator Contribution | Provision of infrastructure for video data processing, storage and labelling to develop AI models. Funding for PhD studentships. |
Impact | No outputs yet as the collaboration has just begun. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Collaboration with the Surgical MIC |
Organisation | National Institute for Health Research |
Department | NIHR Surgical MedTech Co-operative |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | We provide the Surgical MIC with our work as a case study to showcase their capabilities and areas of support. |
Collaborator Contribution | Expert advice and support for the clinical trials aspects of the project, including patient and public involvement. The latter includes access to patient and clinician networks, advice on engagement and other activities. |
Impact | This collaboration is in the early stages and will come into effect in the later parts of the project. |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Partnership with PA Consulting - Phase 1 |
Organisation | PA Consulting |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Our team will provide all the technical information required to prepare the application to the ethical committee. |
Collaborator Contribution | PA consulting will help us with the ethical approval required to perform first-in-human trials. |
Impact | Preliminary meetings and plan of action |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | Partnership with WEGO |
Organisation | Shandong Weigao Pharmaceutical Co Ltd |
Country | China |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | We have established a partnership with Shandong Wego Pharmaceutical Co. LTD in Shandong, China, to investigate the feasibility of performing clinical trials of our low-cost gastroscopy platform in China. We have met them once in September 2017 and we are going to meet with them again in March 2018. |
Collaborator Contribution | Wego offered us support for fabricating a first batch of our platform to perform pilot clinical trials. We will better define the details of a potential agreement during our forthcoming visit in March 2018. |
Impact | Wego offered us support for fabricating a first batch of our platform to perform pilot clinical trials. We will better define the details of a potential agreement during our forthcoming visit in March 2018. |
Start Year | 2017 |
Title | ????????????????????????? |
Description | Systems and methods are provided for controlling lateral movement of a medical capsule system. A capsule housing is configured to be inserted into an anatomical structure of a patient. The multichannel tether is coupled to a rear of the capsule and includes at least one liquid exhaust channel conveying liquid to the capsule housing. The plurality of liquid exhaust ports are positioned around an outer circumference of the capsule housing and each configured to controllably expel liquid laterally from the capsule housing at varying rates to affect lateral movement of the capsule housing. |
IP Reference | CN107205623 |
Protection | Patent application published |
Year Protection Granted | 2017 |
Licensed | No |
Impact | IP coverage allows us to enter into discussion with interested industrial partners |
Title | STEERABLE ENDOSCOPE WITH CONTINUUM MANIPULATOR |
Description | A steerable endoscope system includes a continuum manipulator, a plurality of syringes, and a steerable tip. The continuum manipulator includes a plurality of spaced discs and a pluralitv7 of backbones each extending through all discs. A bending movement of the continuum manipulator changes a varying linear displacement of each backbone. Each backbone is further coupled to a different one of the syringes such that the linear displacement of each backbone pushes or pulls a piston of the corresponding syringe by a varying amount. The steerable tip includes a plurality of bellows each pneumatically coupled to a different syringe such that movement of the piston of a syringe causes the corresponding bellow to inflate or deflate. Because the distal end of each bellow is fixedly coupled to the same end effector, variations in the amount of inflation or deflation on each bellow causes a bending of the steerable tip. |
IP Reference | WO2018102718 |
Protection | Patent application published |
Year Protection Granted | 2018 |
Licensed | No |
Impact | At the moment we have several companies interested in licensing. However, all of them want first to see results from pre-clinical and pilot clinical trials. |
Title | VALVE |
Description | A rotary valve is provided comprising a valve housing, a valve member positioned relative to the valve housing so as to define a gap, and a compressible member located within the gap. A portion of the valve member is configured to rotate relative to the valve housing so as to vary the width of the gap between the valve member and the valve housing. As the gap width is varied,the compressible member is compressed, which subsequently alters the rate of fluid flow through the valve.In this way,the rate of fluid flow through the valve is controlled based upon the position of the portion of the valve member relative to the valve housing. Unlike known pinch valves, the valve member is configured to move along a length of the compressible member as the portion of the valve member rotates relative to the valve housing. |
IP Reference | WO2020065348 |
Protection | Patent application published |
Year Protection Granted | 2020 |
Licensed | No |
Impact | At the moment, we are investigating the interest for licensing with several international companies |
Title | CADDIE - Computer Aided Detection and Diagnosis for Intelligent Endoscopy |
Description | CADDIE - Computer Aided Detection and Diagnosis for Intelligent Endoscopy - is an Innovate UK funded project to put Odin Vision Ltd (spin out from UCL) technology into a clinical trial at UCLH. The company's first product utilises AI to assist the detection and characterisation of polyps during video colonoscopy. |
Type | Support Tool - For Medical Intervention |
Current Stage Of Development | Early clinical assessment |
Year Development Stage Completed | 2019 |
Development Status | Under active development/distribution |
Impact | Similar technology is being developed to support interventions in upper GI endoscopy. |
Company Name | Odin Vision |
Description | Odin Vision develops AI software designed to assist cancer diagnosis by using cameras to locate cancerous polyps. |
Year Established | 2018 |
Impact | Too early to report key achievements. |
Website | http://odinmedical.com |
Description | Attendance, Presentation and Exhibition at Global Surgery Conference GASOC 2019 |
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 Global Anaesthesia, Surgery and Obstetric Collaboration (GASOC) is a UK based trainee-led group made up of surgical, anaesthetic and obstetric junior doctors. Who are passionate about learning and sharing medical knowledge and experience to improve surgical outcomes in low and middle income countries. GASOC 2019 (14th September 2019) had 150 people attend: including Medical/Engineering students, junior doctors (FY, CT, Registrars), engineers, innovators, consultants, companies, organisations and speakers. Participants came from all over the UK & included five different continents. The GASOC conference is a platform to allow people to network and highlight key aspects of technology in a Global Surgery context. Key highlights included international speakers, interaction and international participation including video-conferencing, live-streaming and participation Rwandan delegates. Selected oral presentations and posters were presented on the day of the conference. We were awarded 'best oral presentation' - For: A Digitally Driven Fabrication Approach to Allow Affordable On-Site Manufacture of a Novel Upper Gastroscope Handle. Which will be published as an abstract in the Tropical Doctor journal. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://www.gasocuk.co.uk/ |
Description | Demo at the International Robotics Showcase 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 | A demo of our ultra-low-cost system for gastric cancer screening in rural areas of low-income countries was presented at the EPSRC UK-RAS Network International Robotics Showcase, the pinnacle event of UK Robotics Week 2017. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | http://hamlyn.doc.ic.ac.uk/roboticsweek2017/events/international-robotics-showcase |
Description | Distinguished Seminar at the University of Toronto, Canada |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
Results and Impact | Pietro Valdastri gave a talk entitled "Lifesaving Capsule Robots" at the University of Toronto, Canada, within the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Distinguished Seminar Series. The talk covered aspects related to ultra-low-cost gastric cancer screening in rural areas of China. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Endoscopic Imaging and AI - Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, Enterprise Network Europe, London, UK |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Dr. Stoyanov gave a talk at an event organised to facilitate exchange and new business opportunities between the UK and Austria co-organised with the Austrian Trade Commission. The event was well attended and involved interesting discussion on how AI will influence clinical decision making. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Event Third Coast Innovators Mixer at JLabs (Johnson & Johnson) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Third Coast Innovators Mixer was a networking event for innovators and entrepreneurs in the Third Coast USA, hosted by JLABS @ TMC. Networked and discussed our ultra-low-cost endoscope technology with innovators and entrepreneurs in the JLABS ecosystem. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Exhibited at the One Day in Leeds Event |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Supporters |
Results and Impact | The event was to engage with donors and potential donors with the University to celebrate and highlight the research impact of the University. We presented our endoscopic technology to alumni and a guests, representatives from trusts and foundations and non-alumni who are interested in supporting the University. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Engineering Global Grand Challenges Summit 2019 - Next Generation Reception |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | As part of the 2019 summit, EPSRC hosted an evening event on 17 September 2019 - "EPSRC Engineering Research for Grand Challenges Showcase". We showcased our ultra-low-cost endoscope technology (with demonstration and poster) as part of the EPSRC's Engineering portfolio addressing a wide variety of themes under global grand challenges. Summit participants were able to engage with us and our endoscopic technology through one-on-one discussions leading to extensive networking. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Interview for BBC One Yorkshire-Look North, 20/11/2017 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | I have been interviewed by BBC One Yorkshire-Look North to describe the work supported by EPSRC with the grant "Ultra-low-cost endoscopy for gastric cancer screening in rural China". The interview aired on 20/11/2017 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Invited talk at MedX event - Robotics in Healthcare |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
Results and Impact | The MedX society robotics in healthcare invited 'TED-style' talks on robotics and engineering in healthcare with the aim of engaging and inspiring. We presented our work in low-cost and endoscopic robotics and received positive feedback from the attendees. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://surgicalmic.nihr.ac.uk/medtechfoundation/medx/ |
Description | Lancet Commission on Global Surgery, Workshop and Hackathon |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
Results and Impact | A 3-day workshop was conducted at Karunya University (Coimbatore, India) from 12-14 February 2018. A 1-day lecture-based workshop was conducted on Global Surgery and Innovation followed by a 2-day student hackathon at a large engineering university in South India to expose students to problems facing surgical care in rural areas. 143 engineering students attended the 1-day workshop. 11.7% reported previous exposure to global health or GS. The majority (64.1%) listed "social aspect of the event" as their primary reason for participating. 33 students participated in the entire 3-day workshop and hackathon. 78.8% reported improvements in current knowledge of global surgery on a 5-point scale, with an average increase of 1.27 points from below "average" initially to above "average" afterwards. "Technology and Innovation" remained the "most interesting aspect of Global Surgery," however students also reported a deepened recognition of Capacity Building and Education, Policy Development and Reform, and Surgical Missions in the advancement of Global Surgery. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | https://twitter.com/GHRG_ST |
Description | Lifesaving Capsule Robots at Hamlyn Symposium 2018 |
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 | Prof. Valdastri was invited to give the talk "Capsule Robots for Endoluminal Inspection and Intervention" at the Endoluminal Intervention Workshop at the Hamlyn Symposium on Medical Robotics 2018 in London |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Lifesaving Capsule Robots at University College London |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Prof. Valdastri gave a talk at partner University College London |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Lifesaving Capsule Robots at University of Tianjin |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Prof. Valdastri gave a talk at partner University of Tianjin |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Lifesaving Capsule Robots at Wired Healthcare |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Prof. Valdastri gave a talk about Lifesaving Capsule Robots at Wired Healthcare, an event organised by the Wired Magazine in Milan, Italy |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Operation Ouch exhibition |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | This was a family event is organised by the Bradford Science and Media Museum's with the CBBC series Operation Ouch during the half-term week. There were hands on exhibits as well as live science shows aimed at all ages. We have exhibited the ultra-low-cost flexible endoscope developed within this project. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://www.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/whats-on/operation-ouch-half-term |
Description | Presentation at the 29th International Congress of the Society for Medical Innovation and Technology (SMIT) 2017 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Presentation entitled "An intuitive disposable endoscope with intrinsic pneumatic actuation" related to the work supported by this grant |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | http://smit2017.com/ |
Description | Presentation at the Hamlyn Symposium on Medical Robotics 2017 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | We presented a poster entitled "Toward a Low-Cost Soft Robotic Manipulator based on Fluid-Actuated Bellows for Gastric Cancer Screening" |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Presentation at the Third WHO Global Forum on Medical Devices |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Preliminary results for this grant were presented at the Third WHO Global Forum on Medical Devices in Geneva, Switzerland. We met with several stakeholders, including WHO officers in charge of global gastric cancer screening programmes. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | http://www.who.int/medical_devices/global_forum/3rd_gfmd/en/ |
Description | Presentation of Research to the Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation (Chris Skidmore) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | In the region as part of a fact-finding visit, the Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation, was at our innovation hub, Nexus, to hear about internationally-important research and teaching undertaken at Leeds across these key areas. As part of this visit we presented our Ultra-low-cost endoscope and magnetic colonoscopy platforms which received positive feedback and extensive exposure through social and traditional media. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://www.leeds.ac.uk/news/article/4526/sampling_world-leading_science |
Description | Presentation to the CRUK Trustees |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
Results and Impact | Our ultra-low-cost technologies for gastric cancer screening were presented to CRUK Trustees during their visit to the University of Leeds. This will potentially influence the charity's policy in funding more research in the space of global challenges. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://www.leeds.ac.uk/news/article/4523/cancer_research_uk_delegation_visits_leeds |
Description | Press release on ultra-low-cost gastroscope |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Press release prepared by the University of Leeds on our ultra-low-cost device for gastric cancer screening. The press release was re-published by Medgadget.com 24th April - Engineer Online 16th April - News, and E&T magazine. Airbus followed up to discuss possible applications of our technology in the aeronautic industry sector. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | http://www.leeds.ac.uk/news/article/4402/redesigning_cancer_screening_technology |
Description | Seminar at the South West Jao Tong University, Chengdu, China |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
Results and Impact | Pietro Valdastri gave a talk entitled "Lifesaving Capsule Robots" at the South West Jao Tong University, in Chengdu, China. The talk covered aspects related to ultra-low-cost gastric cancer screening in rural areas of China. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Talk at the Winter Meeting of the European Association of Endoscopic Surgeons (EAES) 2018 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Dr. Danail Stoyanov gave a talk on the application of AI in endoscopic imaging, which invoked an interesting discussion on translation and potential clinical opportunities. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | The future of your city: robots, people and healthy infrastructure |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | "The future of your city: robots, people and healthy infrastructure" was delivered by Prof. Valdastri at the Workshop on European Societal Challenges: The Future of Human-Robot Interaction, European Parliament, Brussels |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | http://www.leeds.ac.uk/news/article/4367/northern_robotics_experts_to_lead_euro_conversation_on_ethi... |
Description | Winter Meeting of the European Association of Endoscopic Surgeons (EAES) 2018 |
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 | Prof. Pietro Valdastri chaired the EAES Wintermeeting 2018 in London, UK on the 19th January 2018. The 2018 EAES Wintermeeting, a tradition conceived by Gerhard Buess, focused on translational research in robotic endoscopy and surgery by discussing a number of new platforms that are ready to enter the market or to start clinical trial, including the one supported by this grant. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | https://eaes.eu/events/eaes-winter-meeting-2018/ |
Description | Workshop, presentation and attendance at ARSICON 2019 in Bagalkot, Karnataka, INDIA |
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 | On 19th November 2019, we travelled to Bagalkot in India to attend the 27th Annual National Conference of Association of Rural Surgeons of India (ARSI) and 8th International Conference of International Federation of Rural Surgery (IFRS). During the conference, we delivered 2 workshops on the use of the low-cost endoscope device (BellowScope). The first workshop took place on Thursday and was for invited faculty and senior members of ARSI only for participants to trial the equipment through hands on feedback and one to one discussions with researchers. The second workshop was delivered as part of the main ARSICON programme. Delegates signed up to the workshop prior to the conference with a maximum of 20 participants. The aim of the workshops was to obtain feedback from representative users including medical practitioners from rural areas across India. Results and feedback from the workshops have directly impacted the development of the devices and will form part of planned future publications. On Friday the team also presented our work to the conference delegates. After the presentations the team were presented with a token on appreciation from ARSICON. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://ghrgst.nihr.ac.uk/news/arsicon-2019/ |