In order to
overcome the limitations of currently available assistive
technologies for minimally invasive cardiac surgery (MICS), we
develop and tested a first prototype based on an innovative
approach of a highly articulated robotic probe (HARP). We
hypothesize that, for procedures involving epicardial
interventions on the beating heart, MICS can be effectively
realized with the HARP, entering the pericardial cavity through a subxiphoid port, reaching remote intrapericardial locations on the
epicardium without causing hemodynamic and electrophysiologic
interference, attaching to the target surface, and delivering
therapeutic interventions under the direct control of the surgeon.
We strongly believe that HARP’s functionality will eventually lead
to application such as multiple intrapericardial therapies (e.g.
cell transplantation by intramyocardial injection, epicardial
ablation, epicardial lead placement for resynchronization, etc).
Our broad, long-term objective is to fulfill our group’s
“epicardial frontier” vision, enabling a growing portfolio of
epicardial therapies by developing and testing new dedicated
innovative robotic technology. We envision the adoption of
HARP-based intrapericardial therapies not only by minimally
invasive cardiac surgeons, but also by interventional
cardiologists and electrophysiologists.
This website is under
construction - Sorry!
Howie Choset: Advisor
Alon Wolf: Advisor
Marco Zenati: Advisor, Medical
applications
Amir Degani: Design, Engineering
Drawings
Ben Brown: Consultant , Design
Michael Schwerin:
Electronics Design and Programming
