ARES Project

ARES :Assembling Reconfigurable Endoluminal Surgical system

OVERVIEW

Imagine the day when complex internal surgery is performed by tiny robotic machinery that assembles itself within the body, performs its task, and is then removed or is designed to disintegrate. This is the adventurous vision of the ARES project. Innovations in robotics, computation, and micro- and nanotechnology will all be required to make this dream a reality.

OBJECTIVES

The ARES project aims at developing an entirely new type of surgical tools, capable of entering the human body through natural orifices (by insertion, ingestion or inhalation) or very small incisions (injection), and configuring themselves in complex kinematic structures at the specific site of intervention. In order to achieve tangible results in the three-year time frame, ARES is focusing on the specific objective of developing prototypical surgical robots for the use in the gastrointestinal tract.

COMPLEX CHALLENGES

Scanned images and other medical data will be used to plan and simulate the intervention. It will be followed by computer-aided design of the optimal configuration of the endoluminal robotic tool that will be customized for the specific therapy at the target site. The appropriate robotic modules needed to construct the complete device within the body will then need to be selected. These individual modules will interconnect to create whatever specific structure is required for each operation.
The chosen modules will be delivered into the body in capsule form and will auto-assemble in-situ to create the pre-planned robotic device. The surgical intervention will then proceed under very precise control.

MODULAR APPROACH

The robotic devices will comprise a set of ingestible modules containing different elements for structural functions, communication, power supply, processing and control, as well as diagnostic devices, including a camera for endoscopy and a DNA chips. Active modules for surgery are also needed, comprising ablation tools and systems to puncture cell membranes to allow insertion of therapeutic materials.

PARTNERSHIP

1. Scuola Superiore di Studi Universitari e Perfezionamento Sant’Anna (SSSA)Coordinator
2. Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique (INRIA)
3. Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zurich (ETHZ)
4. Universitat de Barcelona – Centre de Recerca en Bioelectrònica I nonobiociència (UB-CBEN)

Project Information

SIXTH FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME - New and Emerging Science and Technology (NEST)
Call Reference FP6-2003-NEST-B-3
Project acronym: ARES
Project full title: Assembling Reconfigurable Endoluminal Surgical system
Contract no.: 015653
Duration: 01/02/2006-31/07/2009 (42 months)
Link to Project Fact Sheet at CORDIS