Research

“Intelligent magnetic anchored and guided endoscope for minimally invasive surgery” by CU Medicine, was awarded Bronze Medal in the International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva 2021. Details of the project are as follows:

“Our invention includes two parts. The internal unit is a compact magnetic endoscope that ‘sticks’ to the chest/abdominal wall inside patients and rotates/slides to change camera view.

The external unit is a robotic arm with an AI-based intelligent controller. The robotic arm steers a magnet to drive the endoscope to automatically follow the AI detected target, e.g. surgical instruments, inside patients.

This invention reduces patient’s trauma by removing the incision port required by conventional endoscopes in minimally invasive surgery. It lessens surgeon’s burden and allows for a smoother surgical procedure by minimizing instrument fencing. The new endoscope can also provide a wider endoscopic view and has the potential for multi-angle views, self-cleaning and intuitive control capabilities.

In the era of COVID pandemic and manpower shortage, such intelligent surgical assistant robots enable operation with fewer surgical assistants, thereby alleviating the manpower shortage and reduce health workers’ exposure to COVID.”

Members: Professor LI Zheng, Associate Professor from the Department of Surgery; Mr. Truman CHENG, PhD candidate from the Department of Surgery; Professor Calvin NG, Professor from the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery; Professor Philip CHIU, Director of Chow Yuk Ho Technology Centre for Innovative Medicine; and Professor Joseph SUNG, Emeritus Professor of The Chinese University of Hong Kong.