Friday, April 5, 2024
10:00am-12:00pm
RS208, Roseburgh Building
164 College Street
Thomas Looi, University of Toronto
Research Seminar (40 Mins) & Q&A (10 Mins) followed by a Short Lecture (30 Mins) & Q&A (10 Mins)
Seminar: Next Generation Surgical Robotics – Novel Continuum-based Mechanisms and Digital Twins
Surgical robotics has changed how minimally invasive surgery is performed by providing surgeons with new capabilities in dexterity, control, and 3D imaging. However, the current state-of-the-art tools are based on cabled-driven discrete joints that have a lower limit in terms of size and flexibility to operate in constrained environments (e.g. navigating around critical structures). My research aims to create a new approach to surgical robotic tools by using continuum adjustable structures and “digital twins”. This talk will have 2 elements: Continuum deployable structures and Digital twins for assistance. The first part describes the use of laser cutting and the origami concept of deployable structures to create miniature joints for surgical robotic tools. The second part describes the use of “digital twins” which are virtual models of tools co-registered to the physical tools and environment. The concept of the digital twin will expand and augment the capabilities of the surgeon with virtual fixtures and assistive agents to guide and accurately perform complex tasks with continuum-based robotic tools.
Lecture: State-space Representation of Multi Input – Multi Output (MIMO) Systems
A technical introduction to State-space representation of MIMO systems will be presented from a practical, applications- and design-oriented perspective.
Bio:
Thomas Looi is the Posluns Innovator and Project Director of the Wilfred and Joyce Posluns Centre of Image Guided Innovation and Therapeutic Intervention at the Hospital for Sick Children. He holds a status appointment as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. He is also cross-appointed in the Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Toronto. He received his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, MASc in Space Systems Engineering from the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies, and BASc in Engineering Science from the University of Toronto. In addition, he has a Master of Business Administration from Rotman School of Business. He is a registered Professional Engineer in Ontario.
The research of Thomas is on the development of minimally invasive surgical robotic tools with novel continuum robotic mechanisms and “digital twins” for robotic assistance. In his work, he has developed millimeter-scale steerable robotic tools, laser-cutting techniques for continuum joints, autonomous robotic suturing systems, MRI-compatible robotics, and guidance methods for robotically assisted surgery. In addition, he has created numerous surgical training models that are used for tool validation and surgical teaching/training. His research involves a multidisciplinary approach with mechanical design, robot modeling, and sensor integration combined with clinical workflows to create robotic tools and models that improve patient care by advancing surgical intervention. His projects have been published in Science Robotics and nominated for the IEEE IROS Best Application while he has also been part of the team winning the Hamlyn Surgical Robotic Challenge.
In addition, he holds various patents in surgical robotic technology, some of which have been licensed to various medtech companies. Prior to being appointed at The Hospital for Sick Children, he was a controls engineer with MDA where he was involved in the operations and support of the CanadArm2 and Dextre on the International Space Station.
Evaluation Questions Link: https://forms.office.com/r/QaSQDgQhK0
