[2020] Robotics lecturer Mohsen Kadhem has been awarded UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship funding to work on a Cyber-Physical System (CPS) for the Unified Diagnosis and Treatment of Lung Diseases. Image Mohsen Khadem The aim of the project is to develop a mechatronic device with a user interface – a CPS – to be used in diagnostic and treatment of lung cancer and other lung diseases. Mohsen will work with collaborators Professor Kev Dhaliwal, Dr. Subramanian Ramamoorthy, Dr. Ahsan Akram, and Dr. James Stone on the project. The CPS proposed by Mohsen has the potential to speed up the evaluation of lung diseases and successful bronochoscopic detection and therapy. The development of the CPS has three motivations. Firstly, at the moment lung cancer treatment is most successful in early stages of the diseases; treatment of early-stage cancer offers a 73% chance of survival, compared to just 13% in late-stage. Secondly, surgical removal of small, malignant tumours is often the treatment of choice, but most patients are not suitable for this surgery. Thirdly, the mortality rate of ICU patients who required a ventilator is high, approaching 30%. Pulmonary infiltrates (e.g. pus) pose a diagnostic challenge, and patients often receive non-targeted therapies to begin with. Bronchoscopy could be used in a lot of these situations, but it is not a standard procedure and requires experienced operators. The CPS proposed by Mohsen uses new mechatronic systems, control algorithms and image guidance to address the unique issues of bronchoscopic diagnosis and treatment of lung diseases. The CPS has a potential to enhance the current technology and deliver diagnosis and treatment platform for early-stage lung cancer and diagnosis of diffuse lung diseases. Another key goal of the project is to develop algorithms that employ emerging molecular imaging techniques to provide an imaging technology for in-vivo diagnosis of lung diseases. The device will comprise of an active mini-bronch and a user interface for steering it. The active mini-bronch is made of a flexible robot equipped with an endoscopic camera, fibre-optics for molecular imaging/sensing of tissue. The device can be used for autonomous tissue sampling in intensive care units: the mini-bronch uses control algorithms to navigate to lung subsegments and take multiple samples for diagnosis. It can also be used semi-autonomously for tissue diagnosis/treatment: the operator uses the user interface to navigate the mini-bronch to the periphery of the lung, characterise, sample and detect cancerous tissue, and then ablate. The control algorithms will provide unprecedented capabilities in terms of dexterity, safety, and ease of operation. Overall, the CPS proposed by Mohsen aims to improve the diagnosis and treatment of lung disease by enabling rapid on-site evaluation and successful bronchoscopic detection and therapy. Related Links Mohsen's personal page This article was published on 2024-03-18
