When a Micro-Robot Encounters a Bowel Lesion
Lead Research Organisation:
UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
Department Name: Engineering
Abstract
Detection of bowel cancer is currently performed by visual inspection of the colonic mucosa during endoscopy, which is less reliable for small-sized lesions that are not easily visualised. If they are not detected and removed at an early stage, there is a chance that they may become cancerous. This project seeks to develop a new mathematical tool for analysing the sensing capability of micro-robots to aid the detection of hard-to-visualise bowel lesions. Micro-robots experiencing vibrations, frictions, and impacts, known as non-smooth systems, exhibit a rich variety of different long-term behaviours co-existing for a given set of parameters, which is referred to as multi-stability or co-existing attractors. When the robot moves in the colon and encounters a lesion, some particular attractor may dominate its dynamics, while the other co-existing attractors could fade away due to the tissue's mechanical properties associated with different stages of malignant transformation. This significant change in multi-stability can be utilised to distinguish between healthy and abnormal tissues. The applicant proposes to use for the first time robot's multi-stability through the development of state-of-the-art numerical techniques to analyse such robot-lesion correlation, and produce a suite of computational analysis and advanced control methods for cancer detection and staging. In the long term, this work will initiate a new modality for bowel cancer screening, delivering an efficient minimally invasive procedure for patients. The unique research approach of this project, a joint effort of numerical and experimental studies, and the research collaboration with an applied mathematician and two NHS gastroenterologists, will secure a leading global position for the UK in applied non-smooth dynamics, micro-robots and early cancer diagnosis.
Organisations
- UNIVERSITY OF EXETER (Lead Research Organisation)
- ETH Zurich (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital (Collaboration)
- Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (Collaboration)
- University of Southern Denmark (Collaboration)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Escuela Superior Politecnica del Litoral (Project Partner)
- NHS Lothian (Project Partner)
- Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Fdn Trust (Project Partner)
Publications
Afebu K
(2023)
Two-stage machine learning models for bowel lesions characterisation using self-propelled capsule dynamics
in Nonlinear Dynamics
Afebu K
(2023)
AI-Assisted Dynamic Tissue Evaluation for Early Bowel Cancer Diagnosis Using a Vibrational Capsule
in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
Tian J
(2023)
Fundamentals of Bowel Cancer for Biomedical Engineers.
in Annals of biomedical engineering
Tian J
(2024)
Modelling and experimental investigation of capsule-tumour contact for early bowel cancer detection
in European Journal of Mechanics - A/Solids
Tian J
(2023)
Dynamic analysis of a soft capsule robot self-propelling in the small intestine via finite element method
in Nonlinear Dynamics
Tian, Jiyuan
(2023)
Fundamentals of Bowel Cancer for Biomedical Engineers
Yan Y
(2022)
Dynamics of a vibro-impact self-propelled capsule encountering a circular fold in the small intestine
in Meccanica
Yan Y
(2022)
Optimising the locomotion of a vibro-impact capsule robot self-propelling in the small intestine
in Communications in Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation
Yan Y
(2022)
Evaluating the resistant force of an endoscopic capsule self-propelling in the small intestine
in Archive of Applied Mechanics
Description | The robot behaves differently when it moves through healthy and unhealthy tissue. We used sensors to collect data on its movements and developed methods to understand these differences. This helps us predict whether the robot is passing through a harmful or non-harmful lesion. |
Exploitation Route | We will develop a prototype and get it ready for in-vivo live animal testing under the financial support of MRC - early stage development of new healthcare interventions. |
Sectors | Healthcare |
Description | Development of the initial prototype of a pill sensor to detect colonic polyps and early bowel cancer |
Amount | £247,147 (GBP) |
Funding ID | MR/Y503411/1 |
Organisation | Medical Research Council (MRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 02/2024 |
End | 07/2025 |
Description | Late proof-of-concept demonstration of a clinician-controlled capsule device for lower gastrointestinal endoscopy |
Amount | £53,180 (GBP) |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 11/2023 |
End | 03/2024 |
Description | Preclinical assessment of a vibrational device for early bowel cancer diagnosis |
Amount | £44,857 (GBP) |
Organisation | Medical Research Council (MRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 06/2023 |
End | 09/2024 |
Description | WORMS: When micro-robots encounter metastatic cancer in the adjacent capillaries |
Amount | £200,511 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/Y016017/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2023 |
End | 10/2025 |
Description | ETH |
Organisation | ETH Zurich |
Country | Switzerland |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Dr Liu hosts regular monthly meetings with Prof. Brad Nelson and Dr Xiangzhong Chen to discuss project progress. |
Collaborator Contribution | Prof. Brad Nelson and Dr Xiangzhong Chen provide expertise to Dr Liu's team on micro-robot design and fabrication. |
Impact | No outcome yet. |
Start Year | 2021 |
Description | Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral |
Organisation | Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral |
Country | Ecuador |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Dr Liu has provided his expertise in control and experimental data. |
Collaborator Contribution | Prof. Prof. Joseph Páez Chávez has provided his expertise in numerical analysis. |
Impact | 1. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2017.0500 2. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11071-017-3855-9 3. https://doi.org/10.1177/0954406218766200 4. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11012-017-0801-3 |
Start Year | 2017 |
Description | MIT |
Organisation | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Dr Liu holds regular monthly meetings with Prof. Chen from MIT to discuss recent research findings from this project. |
Collaborator Contribution | Prof. Chen has expertise in micro-robots and design. He has regular meetings with Dr Liu's team to provide advice on micro-robot design and control. |
Impact | No output yet. |
Start Year | 2021 |
Description | RDEFT |
Organisation | Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Hospitals |
PI Contribution | The PI has spent 3 days per week for 6 months to learn, observe and be trained in the Endoscopy Department at the Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust. |
Collaborator Contribution | Dr Shyam Prasad, a Consultant Gastroenterologist for Endoscopy at the hospital, has contributed 5% of his time for the entire duration of the project, meeting with Dr Liu regularly to discuss project progress and provide consultation. |
Impact | DOI:10.1016/j.ijmecsci.2020.105506 DOI:10.1007/s11071-019-05061-y This is a multi-disciplinary research including mathematics, engineering and medicine. |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | University of Southern Denmark |
Organisation | University of Southern Denmark |
Country | Denmark |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Dr Liu hosts regular meetings with Dr Anastasios Koulaouzidis to discuss project progress. |
Collaborator Contribution | Dr Anastasios Koulaouzidis provide Dr Liu's team expertise on capsule endoscopy and bowel cancer diagnosis. |
Impact | No outcome yet. |
Start Year | 2021 |
Description | 10th European Nonlinear Dynamics Conference |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Two talks were delivered by Prof. Liu: (1) Evaluating the Resistant Force of a Vibro-Impact Self-Propelled Capsule Moving in theSmall Intestine; (2) Dynamics of a self-propelled soft capsule moving in the small intestine. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://enoc2020.sciencesconf.org/ |
Description | 11th European Solid Mechanics Conference |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Mr Jiyuan Tian, a PhD student from Prof. Liu's research group gave a talk titled "Finite element analysis of a self-propelled soft capsule moving in the small intestine" at the mini-symposium - Mechanics of Soft Robotic Devices. Great discussions with researchers and engineers were conducted. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://www.esmc2022.org/ |
Description | 2022 Exeter International Symposium on Small-Scale Robots (EIS2022) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | This symposium held online in 20-22 June 2022 aimed to provide a forum for researchers to present, discuss and disseminate recent advances in developing small-scale robots. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/adce/eis2022/ |
Description | BioMedEng22 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Two talks and two posters were delivered by the PhD students from Professor Liu's research group. Great discussions with biomedical researchers and engineers. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://biomedeng.org/biomedeng22/ |
Description | Engagement with students from Theology Department |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
Results and Impact | Dr Liu's team gave a talk to about 40 undergraduate students from the Department of Theology and Religion on how artifical intelligence was used in this project for bowel cancer diagnosis. This talk was part of their module "Living with Robots: New Technologies and Ethics in Christian Perspective - THE2/3148". |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/theologyandreligionresearch/2022/03/02/living-with-robots-new-technologie... |
Description | Somerscience Festival |
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 | We showed the public our latest research progress at the University of Exeter on self-propelled capsule endoscopy and early detection of metastatic bowel cancer using micro-robots. A talk was also given to about more than 50 audiences to show them how small-scale robots could help in early detection of bowel cancer. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://somerscience.co.uk/somerscience-festival-2023-highlights/ |
Description | The Future of Minimally Invasive GI Diagnostics Workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Professor Liu attended the clinician's workshop on GI diagnostic techniques to deliver a talk on the self-propelled technique for controlled capsule endoscopy. More than 30 surgeons, gastroenterologists and clinicians attended the workshop and showed great interest on the technique followed by meaningful discussions. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |