From a Disposable Ureteroscope to an Active Lightweight Fetoscope-Characterization and Usability Evaluation

Julie Legrand; Mouloud Ourak; Allan Javaux; Caspar Gruijthuijsen; Mirza Awais Ahmad; Ben Van Cleynenbreugel; Tom Vercauteren; Jan Deprest; Sebastien Ourselin; Emmanuel Vander Poorten

doi:10.1109/LRA.2018.2866204

From a Disposable Ureteroscope to an Active Lightweight Fetoscope-Characterization and Usability Evaluation

Julie Legrand, Mouloud Ourak, Allan Javaux, Caspar Gruijthuijsen, Mirza Awais Ahmad, Ben Van Cleynenbreugel, Tom Vercauteren, Jan Deprest, Sebastien Ourselin, Emmanuel Vander Poorten

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

The twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome is a severe fetal anomaly appearing in up to 15% of identical twin pregnancies. This anomaly occurs when twins share blood vessels from a common placenta. The complication leads to an unbalanced blood transfusion between both fetuses. A current surgical treatment consists in coagulating the shared vessels using a fetoscope with an embedded laser. Such treatment is very delicate and constraining due to limited vision and size of the insertion area. The rigidity and lack of controllability of the current used instruments add an additional difficulty and limit the choice in insertion site. This letter proposes an improved flexible fetoscope, offering an enhanced laser controllability and higher versatility regarding the location of the insertion site. A better approach angle can therefore be realized. Also, tissue damage may be further reduced. This single-handed controllable active fetoscope is obtained after adaptation of a LithoVue (Boston Scientific, Natick, MA, USA), a commercially available passive flexible ureteroscope. The LithoVue is fitted with a unique lightweight add-on actuation module foreseen of an artificial muscle and a dedicated control system. Experiments in a mixed reality trainer suggested that the proposed fetoscope is compact, ergonomic, and intuitive in use, allowing an adequate control of the flexible end.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	4359-4366
Journal	IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
Volume	3
Issue number	4
Early online date	20 Aug 2018
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/LRA.2018.2866204
Publication status	Published - Oct 2018

Keywords

Medical robots and systems
flexible robots
mechanism design

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10.1109/LRA.2018.2866204

From a Disposable Ureteroscope_LEGRAND_Accepted17July2018_GREEN AAM
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Accepted author manuscript, 2.36 MB

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Legrand, J., Ourak, M., Javaux, A., Gruijthuijsen, C., Ahmad, M. A., Van Cleynenbreugel, B., Vercauteren, T., Deprest, J., Ourselin, S., & Vander Poorten, E. (2018). From a Disposable Ureteroscope to an Active Lightweight Fetoscope-Characterization and Usability Evaluation. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 3(4), 4359-4366. https://doi.org/10.1109/LRA.2018.2866204

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abstract = "The twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome is a severe fetal anomaly appearing in up to 15% of identical twin pregnancies. This anomaly occurs when twins share blood vessels from a common placenta. The complication leads to an unbalanced blood transfusion between both fetuses. A current surgical treatment consists in coagulating the shared vessels using a fetoscope with an embedded laser. Such treatment is very delicate and constraining due to limited vision and size of the insertion area. The rigidity and lack of controllability of the current used instruments add an additional difficulty and limit the choice in insertion site. This letter proposes an improved flexible fetoscope, offering an enhanced laser controllability and higher versatility regarding the location of the insertion site. A better approach angle can therefore be realized. Also, tissue damage may be further reduced. This single-handed controllable active fetoscope is obtained after adaptation of a LithoVue (Boston Scientific, Natick, MA, USA), a commercially available passive flexible ureteroscope. The LithoVue is fitted with a unique lightweight add-on actuation module foreseen of an artificial muscle and a dedicated control system. Experiments in a mixed reality trainer suggested that the proposed fetoscope is compact, ergonomic, and intuitive in use, allowing an adequate control of the flexible end.",

keywords = "Medical robots and systems, flexible robots, mechanism design",

author = "Julie Legrand and Mouloud Ourak and Allan Javaux and Caspar Gruijthuijsen and Ahmad, {Mirza Awais} and {Van Cleynenbreugel}, Ben and Tom Vercauteren and Jan Deprest and Sebastien Ourselin and {Vander Poorten}, Emmanuel",

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Legrand, J, Ourak, M, Javaux, A, Gruijthuijsen, C, Ahmad, MA, Van Cleynenbreugel, B, Vercauteren, T, Deprest, J, Ourselin, S & Vander Poorten, E 2018, 'From a Disposable Ureteroscope to an Active Lightweight Fetoscope-Characterization and Usability Evaluation', IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 4359-4366. https://doi.org/10.1109/LRA.2018.2866204

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AU - Ahmad, Mirza Awais

AU - Van Cleynenbreugel, Ben

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AU - Vander Poorten, Emmanuel

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AB - The twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome is a severe fetal anomaly appearing in up to 15% of identical twin pregnancies. This anomaly occurs when twins share blood vessels from a common placenta. The complication leads to an unbalanced blood transfusion between both fetuses. A current surgical treatment consists in coagulating the shared vessels using a fetoscope with an embedded laser. Such treatment is very delicate and constraining due to limited vision and size of the insertion area. The rigidity and lack of controllability of the current used instruments add an additional difficulty and limit the choice in insertion site. This letter proposes an improved flexible fetoscope, offering an enhanced laser controllability and higher versatility regarding the location of the insertion site. A better approach angle can therefore be realized. Also, tissue damage may be further reduced. This single-handed controllable active fetoscope is obtained after adaptation of a LithoVue (Boston Scientific, Natick, MA, USA), a commercially available passive flexible ureteroscope. The LithoVue is fitted with a unique lightweight add-on actuation module foreseen of an artificial muscle and a dedicated control system. Experiments in a mixed reality trainer suggested that the proposed fetoscope is compact, ergonomic, and intuitive in use, allowing an adequate control of the flexible end.

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KW - mechanism design

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DO - 10.1109/LRA.2018.2866204

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JO - IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters

JF - IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters

IS - 4

ER -

From a Disposable Ureteroscope to an Active Lightweight Fetoscope-Characterization and Usability Evaluation

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Keywords

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