A Portable Analyzer for Pouch-Actuated, Immunoassay Cassettes.

A portable, small footprint, light, general purpose analyzer (processor) to control the flow in immunoassay cassettes and to facilitate the detection of test results is described. The durable analyzer accepts disposable cassettes that contain pouches and reaction chambers for various unit operations such as hydration of dry reagents, stirring, and incubation. The analyzer includes individually controlled, linear actuators to compress the pouches in the cassette, which facilitates the pumping and mixing of sample and reagents, and to close diaphragm-based valves for flow control.

Robotic needle guide for prostate brachytherapy: clinical testing of feasibility and performance.

Purpose: Optimization of prostate brachytherapy is constrained by tissue deflection of needles and fixed spacing of template holes. We developed and clinically tested a robotic guide toward the goal of allowing greater freedom of needle placement.

Methods And Materials: The robot consists of a small tubular needle guide attached to a robotically controlled arm.

Robotic assistance for ultrasound-guided prostate brachytherapy.

We present a robotically assisted prostate brachytherapy system and test results in training phantoms and Phase-I clinical trials. The system consists of a transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) and a spatially co-registered robot, fully integrated with an FDA-approved commercial treatment planning system. The salient feature of the system is a small parallel robot affixed to the mounting posts of the template.

Robotic assistance for ultrasound guided prostate brachytherapy.

We present a robotically assisted prostate brachytherapy system and test results in training phantoms. The system consists of a transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) and a spatially co-registered robot integrated with an FDA-approved commercial treatment planning system. The salient feature of the system is a small parallel robot affixed to the mounting posts of the template.

Improving contact realism through event-based haptic feedback.

Tapping on surfaces in a typical virtual environment feels like contact with soft foam rather than a hard object. The realism of such interactions can be dramatically improved by superimposing event-based, high-frequency transient forces over traditional position-based feedback. When scaled by impact velocity, hand-tuned pulses and decaying sinusoids produce haptic cues that resemble those experienced during real impacts.

THUMP: an immersive haptic console for surgical simulation and training.

Telerobotic systems are revolutionizing minimally invasive surgery (MIS), giving the surgeon complete control over precise dexterous movements of tiny robotic instruments. Such 'surgery-by-wire' approaches also create unique opportunities for simulation and training, as the surgeon operates at a computer-mediated haptic console. Possible extensions include offline training in simulated environments and advanced guidance and mentoring during actual operations.