Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) has awarded $1.4 million in project funding to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as part of its first round of funding to strengthen U.S. manufacturing. The project focuses on advanced robotics manufacturing and will develop an operator-guided, semi-automatic assembly process using industrial robots integrated with multiple sensors.

The goal of the project is to improve manufacturing productivity by enhancing the operator’s capabilities through advanced robotics, and appropriately applying the technologies that capitalize on the strengths of the robotics (e.g., precise manipulation) and the operator (e.g., decision-making).

Researchers have designed the first neurosurgical robotic system capable of performing bilateral stereotactic neurosurgery inside a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. The MRI-guided robot facilitates less-invasive stereotactic procedures on the patient under general anesthesia because surgeons can accurately control and evaluate the stereotactic manipulation bilaterally to the left and right brain targets in real time. This innovative technological breakthrough can facilitate the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and other neuropsychiatric disorders.

DBS therapy, like a heart pacemaker, can deliver electrical signals through implanted electrodes to the deep brain targets. It helps to restore normal nerve cell activity. Conventional DBS is performed while the patient is awake under local anesthesia. Surgeons have to rely on verbal or physical interactions with the patients to ensure the electrode placement is going well. This surgery demands accuracy in order to target only the tiny nucleus structures and not damage the surrounding critical tissue. Without the intra-operative updates of a surgical “roadmap,” the brain may shift after the skull is opened, which inevitably lowers the targeting accuracy.

Researchers have created an automated blood drawing and testing device that provides rapid results, potentially improving the workflow in hospitals and other health-related institutions to allow healthcare practitioners to spend more time treating patients.

“This device represents the holy grail in blood testing technology,” says Martin L. Yarmush, senior author of the study and Paul & Mary Monroe Endowed Chair & Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Rutgers University–New Brunswick. “Integrating miniaturized robotic and microfluidic (lab-on-a-chip) systems, this technology combines the breadth and accuracy of traditional blood drawing and laboratory testing with the speed and convenience of point-of-care testing.”

Michael “Shawn” Findley, a 44-year-old amputee with a wiring harness emerging from his upper left arm, is working with a UT Southwestern team to help change the way robotic hand biofeedback occurs. Ultimately, he hopes this research may lead to the closest thing to feeling in the hands of every amputee.

The UK National Health Service (NHS) recently invited companies to tender for a contract to provide £300 million (~$429.12 million) worth of surgical robots to surgeries across the UK. With it now only a matter of time before robots become commonplace in UK hospitals, Steve Hughes, managing director of medical power component manufacturer REO UK, explores the power demands they will bring with them.

When it comes to soft, assistive devices — like the exosuit being designed by the Harvard Biodesign Lab — the wearer and the robot need to be in sync. But every human moves a bit differently and tailoring the robot's parameters for an individual user is a time-consuming and inefficient process.

Researchers are developing an artificial, robotic small intestine for use in medical laboratories. The idea of a robotic small intestine may seem strange, as robotic devices are often thought of as being rigid and hard. However, the team will take advantage of an emerging robotics technology created using a kind of flexible, rubber-like material lined with sensors. It can also expand and contract on demand.

The next generation of wearable robots will have lightweight parts, can be put on like a suit, and will not require additional support from crutches, according to researchers. The new types of suits will have light actuators functioning in a different way from the ones in conventional robots, and they will offer real-time control using personalized muscle models and EMG measurements.

Researchers have developed a new class of soft, electrically activated devices capable of mimicking the expansion and contraction of natural muscles. These devices, which can be constructed from a wide range of low-cost materials, are able to self-sense their movements and self-heal from electrical damage, representing a major advance in soft robotics.

Researchers have developed a hybrid rigid-soft robotic arm for endoscopes with integrated sensing, flexibility, and multiple degrees of freedom. This arm — built using a manufacturing paradigm based on pop-up fabrication and soft lithography — lies flat on an endoscope until it arrives at the desired spot, then pops up to assist in surgical procedures.