Robert D. Howe. Abbott and James Lawrence Professor of Engineering, SEAS
Looking to simultaneously:
- Improve outcomes
- Broaden access
- Lower costs
Team website at https://team.seas.harvard.edu
Prof Howe’s work looks at beating-heart surgery – to avoid open-heart surgery and the use of the heart-lung machine.
Around 10 years ago, the technology that enables this – 3D ultrasound – became available. 3D is essential as it makes it easier to do a procedure.
The issue has been instrument artefact problems – with reverberation artefacts and tip reverberation artefacts. Funnily enough, a team in the military had a similar problem with Russian submarines, but couldn’t disclose their solutions as it was classified.
In mitral valve disease, they built a robotic catheter system for beating heart valve repair. It used a 3D ultrasound image processing and visual screening device, inserted a tube into the heart, and used a motorised guide-wire to compensate for the motion of the heart. The process was more accurate.
Conclusion
Check out Boston Intracardiac beating heart surgery collaboration – working with Philips Healthcare.
Websites – http://biorobotics.harvard.edu/3DUS_mosaicing.html
