Congratulations to our CUHK team, comprising our PhD students Mr. WANG Xuchen, Mr. WANG Yan and Mr. LIN Hongbin, for being the only team to receive the Top Prize (Hong Kong and Macau Region) in the 17th National Challenge Cup Competition!
Project: Miniaturized Robotic Articulated Surgical Drill for Confined-Space Bone Work
Supervisor: Professor AU Kwok Wai Samuel
This project proposes a miniaturized robotic surgical drill for dexterous bone work in confined space. Its miniature size (4.5 mm and 8 mm diameters) and large distal bending angle (65°) allow it to reach target surgical sites through small incisions while steering around anatomic corners, thereby reducing intraoperative damage to patients, shortening hospitalization and recovery time, and decreasing the chance of complications. We integrated the drill into lightweight, easy-to-use handheld devices for precise and dexterous surgical operations. The handheld devices can also be mounted on a robotic arm to conduct robotic-assisted surgery for higher surgical precision. The surgical robotic system works in a human-robot shared control mode, where surgeons can move the surgical tools by dragging the robot arm under the guidance of the robot to achieve safe and precise operation. Cadaver studies showed that the proposed devices have the potential to minimize intraoperative tissue damage in many confined-space surgical procedures, including transnasal transsphenoidal pituitary surgery and transoral mandibular fracture internal fixation surgery.
Handheld Articulated Surgical Drill System with a 4.5 mm Diameter Tip
Cadaver Study Using the Proposed Shared-Control Surgical Robotic System for Transoral Mandibular Fracture Internal Fixation (Dr. CHAN Catherine PL (left) and Dr. CHAN Jason Ying Kuen (right) from the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, CUHK)
From left to right: Mr. WANG Xuchen, Mr. WANG Yan and Mr. LIN Hongbin
The Challenge Cup is known as the “Olympics” in promoting innovation in social science, science and technology for university students in China.
Result Announcement: Click here!
CUHK Press Release: Click here!