Abstract

Robotics now allow surgeons to navigate registered tools and sensors in vivo. Image guidance is a technique that often uses augmented reality, virtual reality and imaging data to provide accurate localization and real-time surgical navigation. Raman spectroscopy is a powerful laser-based analysis technique that allows real-time tissue diagnosis (e.g. cancer vs. normal). It is an optical technique in which monochromatic light from a laser is used to excite a tissue, generating characteristic vibrational movement of chemical bonds. Light that is scattered in an inelastic manner is then collected and analyzed, providing a distinctive molecular “fingerprint” of the tissue which can be deciphered using classification techniques such as Support Vector Machines.

A robot-integrated Raman system combined with an augmented reality presentation of mutual, registered, diagnostic information could result in faster and more accurate tissue resections. We demonstrate a near-real-time diagnosis of tissue being analyzed (e.g. cancer) and the corresponding localization information displayed within an image-guided framework. For our system, a portable Raman probe was attached to a mechanical arm and used to scan, classify, and visualize objects within a phantom skull. We discuss the implementation of the integrated system, the classification/diagnosis algorithms developed, along with the visualization techniques. We highlight future steps for its development and eventual application.

Speaker Bio

From 1986-88 Dr. Pandya worked as an Engineer for Virogen Inc. developing solutions for a robotics-based AIDS blood testing system. From 1988 to 1998, he worked at NASA Johnson Space Center’s Graphics Research and Analysis Facility (GRAF) and Remote Operator Interaction Laboratory(ROIL), under various Lockheed Martin contracts for NASA’s Flight Crew Support Division. His work involved primarily Space Station Robotics, Astronaut suit simulation, and the development of software for an immersive human-model-based Virtual Reality system for station applications. From 1998 – 2002, he worked at the Neurosurgery Department (Harper Hospital, Detroit Mi.) where he helped developed Image Guided Surgery software and hardware for use in the operating room and lead a team of engineers in research on Robotic (Neuromate) and Image Guided Neurosurgery. He received a BS and MS from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D from Wayne State University in Bioengineering/Scientific Computing (2004). Since 2004, he has been faculty at the ECE Department at Wayne State University, and holds joint appointments in Bioengineering and Surgery.

Performance Measures for Networks of Coupled Oscillators

Abstract

Networks of coupled oscillators provide a model for a diverse range of systems, such as power grids, vehicle platoons, and biological networks. Stability in these systems is generally related to consensus of the agents or coherence of the network. A related but less studied question relates to the performance of such systems. This work analyzes a series of nodal and network performance measures for systems of coupled oscillators, where the network performance is an aggregate measure across all oscillators in the network, and the nodal performance measure considers the performance of two nodes with respect to one another. We connect the nodal performance measure to the concept of network coherence in interconnected subsystems of vehicle platoons with local and global velocity feedback, and give analytical results for the special case of a subsystem with a tree structure. Additionally, we demonstrate how these concepts can be used to investigate transient losses in power grids.

Speaker Bio

Ted Grunberg received the B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from the Johns Hopkins University in 2013. He is currently pursuing the MSE degree in mechanical engineering at JHU under the supervision of Professor Dennice Gayme. His research is focused on the analysis and control of networked systems.

and

A State-based Approach to Safety of Component-based Medical Robot Systems

Abstract

A variety of medical robot systems have been developed both in academia and in industry, and commercial products are actively used in modern operating rooms.

However, systematic methods for safety of these systems have not yet received much attention, whereas the scale and complexity of modern medical robot systems have been continuously increasing to perform given tasks in faster, safer, and more efficient manners. This makes it even more challenging to design, build, and test large and complex medical robot systems. As an approach to these issues, this work presents a state-based semantics that can explicitly define, capture, and test the run-time status of component-based medical robot systems.

Based on the semantics, a software architecture is designed to facilitate the system development process by leveraging the characteristics of component-based systems.

To demonstrate the benefits of the proposed methods, experience with the refactoring of the software stack of a commercial orthopaedic surgery robot is presented as a case study.

Speaker Bio

Min Yang Jung is a Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science at The Johns Hopkins University. He received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering and M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Seoul National University, South Korea. His research is focused on the safety of component-based medical and surgical robot systems and he has been working on a robot system for orthopaedic surgery as part of his PhD. He is one of the main contributors of the cisst/SAW framework.

Abstract

Consider a bird perching on a branch. In the presence of environmental disturbances and complicated fluid flow, the animal exploits post-stall pressure drag to rapidly decelerate and land on a perch with a precision far beyond the capabilities of our best aircraft control systems. In this talk, I will present methods to improve the robustness of the perching maneuver for a fixed-wing UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), with the goal of perching on powerlines to recharge. By considering three sources of uncertainty – random initial conditions, model inaccuracy, and external disturbances – I will show that I can apply recent advances in SOS (Sum of Squares) programming to build robust perching controllers. Using a 24-inch wingspan glider, I demonstrate these methods in hardware by landing on a wire from a wide range of hand-launched initial conditions and by perching on an experimental powerline outdoors.

Speaker Bio

Joseph Moore is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab in the Robotics and Autonomous Systems group. He completed his Ph.D. and S.M. in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he was a Graduate Research Assistant in the Robot Locomotion Group under Professor Russ Tedrake. He also holds a B.S. in both Mechanical and Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Before joining the Robot Locomotion Group in 2008, he worked on Active Flow Control at RPI in the Center for Automation Technologies and Systems and on embedded software development for the Puck motor controller at Barrett Technology. His current work focuses on the control of underactuated systems with uncertain dynamics and the application of these methods to high-performance robotic platforms.

Abstract

Innovation in sensing and actuation technologies is extremely important for future robots with human-like or human-involved applications, such as wearable robotics, rehabilitation robotics, surgical robotics, humanoids, haptics, tele-robotics where close interactions between human and machines are critical. This talk will describe the novel design and manufacturing processes for developing smart robotic structures with elastic materials, and example robotic systems integrated with soft sensors and actuators, focusing on three specific areas: artificial skin sensors, artificial muscle actuators, and soft robots for human assistance and rehabilitation. Advanced manufacturing technologies for building multi-material and multi-functional 3-D soft smart composite microstructures will be also discussed during the talk.

Speaker Bio

Yong-Lae Park is an Assistant Professor in the Robotics Institute and the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). Prior to joining CMU in 2013, Prof. Park completed his Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University, in 2010, and conducted postdoctoral research in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. He is founder of the CMU Soft Robotics and Bionics Laboratory. His current research interests include artificial skins and muscles, soft robots, wearable devices and robots, and smart structures and materials. He is the winner of the Best Paper Award from the IEEE Sensors Journal, in 2013, a NASA Tech Brief Award from the NASA Johnson Space Center, in 2012, and a Technology Development Fellowship for independent postdoctoral research from the Wyss Institute at Harvard University, in 2010. His recent paper on soft artificial skin was selected as a cover article of the IEEE Sensors Journal, and his work on soft wearable robots was recently featured in Discovery News, New Scientist, and Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette.

Abstract

Collaboration across medical and engineering disciplines is often vital to success in establishing hi-tech solutions to challenges in clinical care. The motivations and goals of these collaborations will be presented. Understanding the differences in professional approaches practiced by clinicians and engineers will be highlighted, and various methods for establishing collaborations will be explored. Suggestions will then be provided on making collaborations successful. Finally, some factors to consider for the next phase: Tech Transfer will be outlined.

Speaker Bio

Dr. Vosburgh’s academic career was concentrated in physics and applied physics. His PhD thesis still stands as the most precise measurement of the lifetime of the K-long meson. At Princeton, he was a principal contributor to the team that accomplished the first acceleration of heavy ions to relativistic energies. He then conducted some of the first laboratory studies of these beams, including their application to cancer therapy.

(Science, 1971).

Dr. Vosburgh joined GE Corporate Research in 1972. His initial project was the design and prototyping of a new X-ray Image Intensifier, which was put into production by GE Medical Systems as the Z7954 XRII Tube.   He then worked on teams to develop algorithms for the first GE whole body CT scanner. He was the Principal Investigator for an NSF-funded study of radiographic image storage (Radiology, 1977).

In 1978, Dr. Vosburgh was promoted to be a research manger, with increasing levels of responsibility over 22 years. He reached the GE Senior Executive Band, and was responsible for several successful product developments.   For most of this period, he served as the liaison between the corporate laboratories and the GE Medical Systems Business, with several activities supporting that business in the US, France, and Japan.

Among the biomedical products and technologies developed by his teams (with many collaborators) were the Signa-SP open MRI image guided therapy system, medical ultrasound prototypes (key to the Logiq E9 product), angiographic, spectroscopic, and cardiac MRI technology, the imaging systems for the “Open Speed” MRI, the Visualization Toolkit (now widely used for medical imaging research), MR-Guided focused ultrasound surgery (now a successful spin-off product in clinical use), open-system software quality methodologies, and mutual-information based metrology systems. Other developments included the A/VLSI integrated circuit process, which ran in production for over a decade, the first VLSI integrated circuits to fly in space, large scale color flat panel displays for avionics applications (which grew into the GE flat panel x-ray detector products), the Genura electrode-less fluorescent lamp, weather graphics software for NBC, advanced algorithms for satellite image understanding. and several materials technologies which were the differentiating element in GE products such as varistor surge protectors, coated incandescent light bulbs, radar absorbing materials for jet engines, and mercury reduction in fluorescent lamps.

Dr. Vosburgh retired from GE in 2000, and joined the Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology (CIMIT) and Harvard Medical School (HMS), based at Mass General Hospital (MGH). There he applied his mentoring and leadership skills to create high tech solutions to clinical problems by supporting teams of physicians and engineers.  Two principal responsibilities were serving as the liaison with the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (CIMIT’s funding agency), and managing the science project selection and oversight process at CIMIT, which awarded $5-12M annually to multidisciplinary translational medical projects in the Boston area.

 
In 2004, he created and directed the Clinical Image Guidance Laboratory: CIGL, which has typically included 2 PhD technologists, 1 recent medical school graduate, and 2 practicing physician fellows and spans Brigham and Women’s (BWH) and MGH . CIGL’s goal is to bring high technology methods pioneered in radiology to the direct benefit of surgeons and gastroenterologists; that is, to allow them the benefits of “in scanner” procedure guidance while not requiring complex radiologic equipment in their procedure or operating rooms. As a hands on Principal Investigator, he has participated directly in porcine model surgeries (n>25) and tests in humans (n>12) as well as the responsibility for scientific direction and administrative processes (SRAC, IRB) for these studies. A key contribution of the laboratory has been the development of kinematics-based analysis of operator performance. This has been applied to laparoscopic and endoscopic surgery, and most recently to performance characterization in diagnostic examinations such as colonoscopy. He devoted at least 1/3 of his time to this work for seven years, and thus gained direct experience in the practical aspects of inserting high technology procedures into clinical practice.  In 2010-13, he phased down his administrative activities and now works at BWH as a research leader, with the goal of advancing ultrasound image registration technologies and expanding their clinical impact.

 
Dr. Vosburgh has taken a leading role in the evaluation and validation of new medical procedures, writing and lecturing on the topic, and organizing and hosting sessions on “procedure validation” at international conferences for the past few years. Recently he has been serving as the Chairman of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine Task Force #240: Ultrasound Guided Therapy. Also, he lectures and serves a coach in medical device technology transfer with the Boston Biomedical Innovation Center, the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation, and as an independent consultant.

Speaker Bio

Dr. James R. Schatz received his Doctorate in Mathematics from Syracuse University in 1979. His dissertation area was the theory of error-correcting codes and his advisor was H.F. Mattson. Upon graduation in 1979 he began a career at the National Security Agency (NSA) where he worked until 2009. Dr. Schatz began his career at NSA in the Cryptologic Mathematics Program (CMP), a three-year development program for newly hired mathematicians. He worked as a cryptologic mathematician throughout his career at NSA, to include a tour of duty overseas. From January 1995 – February 2006, Dr. Schatz served as Chief of the Mathematics Research Group, and in February 2006 Dr. Schatz was appointed as the Deputy Director of Research at the NSA. From 2006 to 2009 Dr. Schatz served as the Director of the Research Directorate at NSA.

Dr. Schatz received various awards during his career at NSA, including the highest honor bestowed by the NSA’s Crypto-Mathematics Institute (CMI), the CMI President’s Award, the Director’s Individual Leadership Award, the Exceptional Civilian Service Award, the Distinguished Presidential Rank Award, and a very special peer award that he most treasures called the Mover and Shaker Award. He has also received the Intelligence Community Distinguished Service Medal.

In 2009 Dr. Schatz joined the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and he currently serves as the Department Head of the Research and Exploratory Development Department.

Abstract

Socially assistive robotics (SAR) is a new subfield of robotics that bridges human-robot interaction (HRI), rehabilitation robotics, social robotics, and service robotics. SAR focuses on developing machines capable of assisting users, typically in health and education contexts, through social rather than physical interaction. The robot’s physical embodiment is at the heart of SAR’s effectiveness, as it leverages the inherently human tendency to engage with lifelike (but not necessarily humanlike or otherwise biomimetic) social behavior. This talk will describe research into embodiment, modeling and steering social dynamics, and long-term user adaptation for SAR. The research will be grounded in projects involving analysis of multi-modal activity data, modeling personality and engagement, formalizing social use of space and non-verbal communication, and personalizing the interaction with the user over a period of months. The presented methods and algorithms will be validated on implemented SAR systems evaluated by human subject cohorts from a variety of user populations, including stroke patients, children with autism spectrum disorder, and elderly with Alzheimers and other forms of dementia.

Speaker Bio

Maja Mataric´ is professor and Chan Soon-Shiong chair in Computer Science, Neuroscience, and Pediatrics at the University of Southern California, founding director of the USC Robotics and Autonomous Systems Center (rasc.usc.edu), co-director of the USC Robotics Research Lab (robotics.usc.edu) and Vice Dean for Research in the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. She received her PhD in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence from MIT in 1994, MS in Computer Science from MIT in 1990, and BS in Computer Science from the University of Kansas in 1987. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Fellow of the IEEE, and recipient of the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics & Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM), the Anita Borg Institute Women of Vision Award for Innovation, Okawa Foundation Award, NSF Career Award, the MIT TR100 Innovation Award, and the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Early Career Award. She served as the elected president of the USC faculty and the Academic Senate. At USC she has been awarded the Viterbi School of Engineering Service Award and Junior Research Award, the Provost’s Center for Interdisciplinary Research Fellowship, the Mellon Mentoring Award, the Academic Senate Distinguished Faculty Service Award, and a Remarkable Woman Award. She is featured in the science documentary movie “Me & Isaac Newton”, in The New Yorker (“Robots that Care” by Jerome Groopman, 2009), Popular Science (“The New Face of Autism Therapy”, 2010), the IEEE Spectrum (“Caregiver Robots”, 2010), and is one of the LA Times Magazine 2010 Visionaries. Prof. Mataric´ is the author of a popular introductory robotics textbook, “The Robotics Primer” (MIT Press 2007), an associate editor of three major journals and has published extensively. She serves or has recently servied on a number of advisory boards, including the National Science Foundation Computing and Information Sciences and Engineering (CISE) Division Advisory Committee, and the Willow Garage and Evolution Robotics Scientific Advisory Boards. Prof. Mataric´ is actively involved in K-12 educational outreach, having obtained federal and corporate grants to develop free open-source curricular materials for elementary and middle-school robotics courses in order to engage student interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) topics. Her Interaction Lab’s research into socially assistive robotics is aimed at endowing robots with the ability to help people through individual non-contact assistance in convalescence, rehabilitation, training, and education. Her research is currently developing robot-assisted therapies for children with autism spectrum disorders, stroke and traumatic brain injury survivors, and individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease and other forms of dementia. Details about her research are found at http://robotics.usc.edu/interaction/.