Technology Description
· Current methods for tumor resection are limited in precision and consistency. Researchers at Johns Hopkins have developed an autonomous system for tumor resection (ASTR) which consists of a pioneering dual-arm, vision-guided autonomous robotic system. ASTR integrates advanced hardware—including two six-degree-of-freedom manipulators, laparoscopic instruments for vacuum grasping and electrosurgical cutting, RGB-D and nearinfrared (NIR) cameras with a dedicated light source, and an electrosurgical smoke evacuator—with sophisticated software for coordinated system registration, safety-assured supervisory control, and specialized tracking and planning. Proof of concept data demonstrates high precision and consistency in autonomous glossectomy procedures targeting ex vivo porcine tongue pseudotumor.
Unmet Need
· Tumor resection surgery, a vital cancer treatment, requires the complete removal of tumors and adjacent healthy tissues, demanding high surgical precision for optimal oncologic outcomes. Current robotic systems are largely teleoperated and possess minimal autonomous functionality. Thus, there exists a strong need for an autonomous surgical system with high precision and accuracy.
Value Proposition
· This system is the first to achieve autonomous tumor resection using animal tissues with consistent precision.
· The technology can be widely used in surgical resections beyond interventional oncology such as gastrointestinal surgery, dermatological surgery, gallbladder surgery, and gynecological surgery.
· The technology can be commercialized as a complete advanced robotic system with an advanced medical vision system or as key component that can be paired with commercially available surgical robotic systems.
Stage of Development
· Proof-of-concept ex vivo studies have been completed using porcine tongue specimens.
· The next phase of development consist of validating the system’s efficacy in targeting pseudotumor in other anatomical regions like kidney and liver and integrating additional medical imaging modalities like CT and ultrasound.
Data Availability
· Data available upon request.
Publication
J. Ge, et al., "Autonomous System for Tumor Resection (ASTR) - Dual-Arm Robotic Midline Partial Glossectomy," in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 1166-1173, Feb. 2024, doi: 10.1109/LRA.2023.3341773.
J. Ge, et al., "Enhancing Surgical Precision in Autonomous Robotic Incisions via Physics-Based Tissue Cutting Simulation," in 2024 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 2024, pp. 2421-2428, doi: 10.1109/IROS58592.2024.10802347.
M. Kam, et al., "Autonomous Closed-Loop Control for Robotic Soft-Tissue Electro-Surgery Using RGBD Image Guidance", in IEEE Transactions on Medical Robotics and Bionics. 2025. Under Review
