How a slender, snake-like robot could give doctors new ways to save lives

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 12 May 2021 17:28:09 +0000

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 05/12/2021 - 13:28

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Jessica Burgner-Kahrs, director of the Continuum Robotics Lab at the U of T Mississauga, and her team are building very slender, flexible and extensible robots for use in surgery and industry (photo by Nick Iwanyshyn)

Andrew Snook

Topic

Our Community

In The Spotlight

Research & Innovation

Robotics

U of T Mississauga

You might call it “zoobotics.”

Jessica Burgner-Kahrs, the director of the Continuum Robotics Lab at the University of Toronto Mississauga, and her team are building very slender, flexible and extensible robots, a few millimetres in diameter, for use in surgery and industry.

Unlike humanoid robots, so-called continuum robots feature a long, limbless body – not unlike a snake’s – that allows them to access difficult-to-reach places.

Consider a neurosurgeon who needs to remove a brain tumour. Using a traditional, rigid surgical tool, the surgeon has to reach the cancerous mass by following a straight path into the brain, and risk poking through – and damaging – vital tissue.

The “tendon-driven” continuum robots depicted here are, in real life, about seven millimetres in diameter and are built in sections that can range in length from 15 to 70 millimetres. Other models can be even narrower. All exhibit a tentacle-like motion.

An associate professor of mathematical and computational sciences at U of T Mississauga, Burgner-Kahrs envisions a day when one of her snake-like robots, guided by a surgeon, would be able to take a winding path around the vital tissue but still reach the precise surgical site. Previously inoperable brain tumours might suddenly become operable.

“It could revolutionize surgery,” she says.

Threads running through the robot’s “body” attach to a thicker disk at the end of each body segment. These threads are pulled to control individual segments of the robot and bend them in different directions. Magnets within each disk, arranged with alternating polarities, ensure that the disks remain equidistant no matter the length of the robot segment. This helps the robot to bend as desired and to traverse a curvilinear path in a “follow-the-leader” motion – the snake-like “body” follows the path of the “head.” The lab has developed a sheath of overlapping scales sandwiched between two layers of silicone. When a vacuum is applied between the silicone layers, the normally flexible robot becomes stiff (illustration by Colin Hayes)

Burgner-Kahrs is developing different kinds of continuum robots that could be used in keyhole surgeries, causing even less trauma to patients than current minimally invasive surgical techniques (illustration by Colin Hayes)

Burgner-Kahrs, a computer scientist and mechanical engineer, says her lab is also developing a more advanced generation of continuum robots that are equipped with sensors and can partially steer themselves. A surgeon would have to operate the robot remotely with a computer, but the robot would know how to avoid obstacles and recognize its destination. A surgeon could deploy one of these robots to collect a tissue sample from the abdomen, for instance, or inject a cancer drug directly into a tumour in the lungs.

There are uses outside the human body, too.

A continuum robot could slide through the interior of a jet engine, inspecting it for damage. The lab is experimenting with novel forms that are even more dexterous and extensible. One recent design, with potential search-and-rescue applications, is inspired by origami: it’s very light, and can elongate up to 10 times further than other designs.

The robots could be equipped with cameras, allowing the operator to see where the robot is. Tiny surgical tools could be mounted as needed, including forceps, a laser or a suction device (illustration by Colin Hayes)

Next-generation continuum robots

To develop robots that can be used safely in a variety of medical and other applications, Burgner-Kahrs aims to answer the following questions:

How can we control continuum robots so they move even more precisely through constrained and tortuous environments?
How can we design a more intuitive interface between human and robot? Can we achieve a fully autonomous robot?
How can we use multiple continuum robots in tandem to complete a task collaboratively?

This story first appeared in the Spring 2021 issue of University of Toronto Magazine.

Focused on sustainability, U of T startup puts insects on the menu – for your pet

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 17:44:57 +0000

Focused on sustainability, U of T startup puts insects on the menu – for your pet

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 02/05/2021 - 12:44

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Sofia Bonilla, a U of T post-doctoral researcher who is preparing to launch a line of alternative-protein pet foods, already has her dog Snuffie gobbling up insect-based treats (photo courtesy of Sofia Bonilla)

Topic

Research & Innovation

Sustainability

U of T Mississauga

A University of Toronto startup is looking to improve the nutrition of dogs and cats while protecting the environment.

Working with U of T Mississauga’s ICUBE accelerator, HOPE Pet Foods bills itself as both meat-free and sustainable, and is preparing to launch a line of pet foods built around alternative proteins – namely insects and algae.

“A few years ago, I became very interested in the sustainability of the food system,” says Sofia Bonilla, a post-doctoral researcher at U of T and the startup’s founder. “I was really concerned about food waste and my expertise is in proteins – and that sort of connected the need for alternative proteins.

“That’s how I started learning what proteins would be a good alternative to meat.”

Bonilla’s pet food is made from non-traditional food sources – at least as far as North American standards go. The dog food she is producing relies on insect proteins while the cat food she created relies on algae proteins. She got the idea while working as a post-doctoral researcher at Wageningen University and Research, a public research university in the Netherlands.

“I was in the Netherlands and there was a big company producing insects and I learned more about how insects are a complete protein – not like plants, where you would need to mix different plants to get the same amino acid profile. So, I started learning about insects,” Bonilla says. “Then, part of my research was using algae for the protein content, and that’s how I started learning about alternative proteins.”

Bonilla, who has an 11-month-old Newfoundland dog named Snuffie (pronounced Snoofy) that eats insect-based treats, saw an opportunity for her proteins in the pet food market, which relies heavily on meat. About 25 per cent of meat in North America is used for pet food, according to Bonilla.

“It’s a big number,” she says. “It just made sense to focus on that market.”

Bonilla is actively marketing her product and has enjoyed some early successes. The mother of two small children was a recent semi-finalist in the Total Mom Pitch Competition presented by Scotiabank. Her company also won second prize in the Adams Sustainability Innovation Prize, and she recently received support through U of T’s Lo Family Social Venture Fund.

“Obviously, the funds are great. But it’s more about validation that we are on the right track. That we can change and improve how we can feed our pets,” she says. “Trust is the main thing we need to earn. That’s what we’re trying to do.”

Bonilla believes that her background as a scientist will help her win the trust of pet owners.

“What we think we can bring to the market is an evidence-based, scientific approach, where we are really looking at the evidence behind dog nutrition and the best possible protein is the one with all the amino acids, but is also sustainable,” she says.

She adds that HOPE Pet Foods allows pet owners to purchase food that is more closely aligned with values such as sustainability and being “cruelty-free.”

Although eating insects is far from mainstream in North American culture, it is a widely accepted practice in many other parts of the globe. Bonilla says North Americans’ attitude toward insects hasn’t affected her work to date.

“We really haven’t had one person say they would never give this to their dog ... I guess only time will tell.”