Innovation,
Design, and
Emerging
Alliances in
Surgery
IDEAS is a program of the
Roberta and Stephen R. Weiner
Department of Surgery at
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
IDEAS
TM
March 28, 2015
BOSTON, MA
Surgical Robotics:
Defining Grand Challenges
for Surgery and Robotics
www.ideasprojectharvard.org
IDEAS
TM
INNOVATION, DESIGN, AND EMERGING
ALLIANCES IN SURGERY
Welcome to the fifth annual IDEAS Symposium
As the name suggests, IDEAS fosters and provides an interactive forum for
innovation at the interface of surgery and other disciplines—whether the
social, biological, or physical sciences—with the goal of improving the lives of
patients worldwide.
This year’s symposium, “Surgical Robotics: Defining Grand Challenges for
Surgery and Robotics,” is a unique event that brings together surgeons,
engineers, and thought leaders from across the United States and Europe.
Our speakers will share cutting-edge ideas and research that we hope will
spark innovation, original concepts, and novel ideas.
Topics will include government priorities in robotics, tissue modeling and
steering, and more. The day’s discussions will also touch on the use of
robotics in clinical practice, the barriers to its use, and the next generation of
surgery systems.
This year we will feature an engaging poster session. Relax at the end of
a full day with complimentary cocktails and hors d’oeuvres while learning
about the cutting-edge research occurring in the field of surgical robotics.
Poster categories include: Robotic-Surgeon Interface, Human-Machine
Replacement and Assistive Bioprosthetics, and Robotics in Surgical Practice.
Thank you for attending and welcome to Boston.
Elliot Chaikof, MD, PhD
Henrik Christensen, PhD
Co-LeaderCo-Leader
IDEAS™ (Innovation, Design, and Emerging Alliances in Surgery) Symposium
Surgical Robotics:
Defining Grand Challenges for Surgery and Robotics
Saturday, March 28, 2015
Joseph B. Martin Conference Center at Harvard Medical School
Rotunda Room, 3rd Floor
77 Avenue Louis Pasteur
Boston, Massachusetts 02115
7:30 – 8:25 AM Breakfast and Registration
8:25 – 8:30 AM
Introduction
Henrik Christensen, PhD (Georgia Institute of Technology) and
Elliot Chaikof, MD, PhD (BIDMC/Harvard)
8:30 – 9:15 AM
Keynote Presentation: Robotics, Science, and Society:
Views from Washington
• Jeffrey Trinkle, PhD (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute/NSF) l
NSF Priorities in Robotics
9:15 – 10:30 AM
Session 1: The Robot-Surgeon Interface
• Ken Goldberg, PhD (UC Berkeley) l Learning by Observation for
Surgical Subtasks: Multilateral Cutting of 3D Viscoelastic and 2D
Orthotropic Tissue Phantoms
• Stefano Stramigioli, PhD (University of Twente) l Robotic Endoscopy
10:30 – 11 AM Break
11 AM – 12:30 PM Session 2: Human-Machine Replacement and Assistive
Bioprosthetics
• Brenna Argall, PhD (Northwestern) l Turning Assistive Machines into
Assistive Robots
• Michael Goldfarb, PhD (Vanderbilt) l Next Generation Exoskeleton
Systems
• Brian Scassellati, PhD (Yale) l Using Robots in the Diagnosis and
Treatment of Autism
12:30 – 2:00 PM
Buffet Lunch and Poster Session
2 – 3:30 PM Session 3: Robotics in Practice: Realizing Clinically Meaningful
Advances
• A. James Moser, MD (BIDMC/Harvard) l Challenges in Robotic
GI Surgery
• Alan Lumsden, MD (Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular
Center) l Robotic Technology in Endovascular Surgery
• Yusef Kudsi, MD, MBA (Tufts) l The Robot as a Surgical Assistant
3:30 – 4 PM Discussion and Closing Remarks: Defining the Grand Challenges
for Surgery and Robotics
4 – 6 PM Poster Session and Reception
IDEAS Co-Leaders
Elliot L. Chaikof, MD, PhD
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard
Elliot L. Chaikof, MD, PhD, is Chairman of the Roberta and Stephen R. Weiner Department of
Surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He is the Johnson and Johnson Professor of
Surgery at Harvard Medical School, associate faculty member of the Wyss Institute for
Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, and a principal faculty member of the
Harvard Stem Cell Institute.
Chaikof’s basic research interests lie at the interface of medicine and engineering. Leading collaborative research
efforts with clinicians, engineers, and biologists, Chaikof has designed new strategies that have advanced the development of engineered living tissues, implantable devices, and artificial organs, as well as cell-based therapies that have
helped define the evolving field of regenerative medicine.
Chaikof is the author of more than 250 peer-reviewed publications and the recipient of the 2013 Clemson Award for
Applied Research from the Society for Biomaterials. In 2014, Chaikof was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the
National Academies.
Henrik I. Christensen, PhD
Georgia Institute of Technology
Henrik I. Christensen, PhD, is Director of the Robotics Program, holds the KUKA Chair in
Robotics, and is Executive Director of the Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines at
Georgia Institute of Technology.
His main research interests include human-centered robotics, sensory/data fusion, and systems
integration. Christensen received the Engelberger Award in 2011, and received the Boeing
Supplier of the Year 2011 award with three other colleagues at Georgia Tech. He has been named Senior Technical
Expert at IEEE, elected Secretary of the International Foundation of Robotics Research, and is senior technical lead of
the Robotics Technology Consortium, and a board member of the Robot Industry Association. He is also the founder of
the NSF Robotics Virtual Organization and a fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Faculty
Turning Assistive Machines into Assistive Robots
Brenna Argall, PhD
Northwestern University
Brenna Argall, PhD, is the June and Donald Brewer Junior Professor of Electrical Engineering
and Computer Science at the McCormick School of Engineering and Assistant Professor of
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern
University. She also holds a Faculty Research Scientist position within the Sensory Motor
Performance Program at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC), where she directs a
rehabilitation robotics laboratory.
Argall’s research interests lie at the intersection of robotics, machine learning, and rehabilitation; in particular, on
adding partial automation and artificial intelligence to assistive machines that are modular, adaptable, and teachable
in how they share control with the human user. Prior to joining Northwestern and RIC, she was a postdoctoral fellow
(2009-2011) in the Learning Algorithms and Systems Laboratory at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in
Switzerland, under the guidance of Professor Aude Billard.
Learning by Observation for Surgical Subtasks: Multilateral Cutting of 3D Viscoelastic and 2D
Orthotropic Tissue Phantoms
Ken Goldberg, PhD
University of California, Berkeley
Ken Goldberg, PhD, is Professor of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research at the
University of California, Berkeley. He holds secondary appointments in Electrical Engineering/
Computer Science, Art Practice, the School of Information, and in the Department of Radiation
Oncology at the UCSF Medical School. Goldberg directs the Automation Sciences Research
Lab, co-directs the Center for Automation and Learning for Medical Robotics, and is Faculty
Director of the CITRIS Data and Democracy Initiative.
Goldberg has published over 200 peer-reviewed technical papers on algorithms for robotics, automation, and social
information filtering; his inventions have been awarded eight U.S. patents. He is Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions
on Automation Science and Engineering, Co-Founder of the African Robotics Network, Co-Founder of the Berkeley
Center for New Media, Co-Founder and CTO of Hybrid Wisdom Labs, Co-Founder of the Moxie Institute, and Founding
Director of UC Berkeley’s Art, Technology, and Culture Lecture Series. Goldberg was awarded the National Science
Foundation Faculty Fellowship in 1994, the Presidential Faculty Fellowship in 1995, the Joseph Engelberger Robotics
Award in 2000, and elected IEEE Fellow in 2005.
Next Generation Exoskeleton Systems
Michael Goldfarb, PhD
Vanderbilt University
Michael Goldfarb, PhD, is the H. Fort Flowers Chair in Mechanical Engineering and Professor
of Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Vanderbilt University. Goldfarb directs the Center for Intelligent Mechatronics, which
focuses on the design and control of electromechanical devices, with a particular emphasis on
the emerging field of rehabilitation robotics.
Goldfarb’s research interests are in the design, modeling, and control of electromechanical devices and systems; design
of high-energy-density robotic actuators; control of fluid-powered actuators and devices. Goldfarb is the recipient of
numerous professional honors and awards including: IEEE EMBC Wyss Translational Award 2012; IEEE EMBC Most
Innovative Demo Award 2012; NIH NIBIB New Investigator Award 2011; and Vanderbilt University’s Chancellor’s Research Award 2008. He has authored over 160 publications in professional journals such as ASME Journal of Dynamic
Systems, Measurement and Control, IEEE Transactions on Robotics, and ASME International Mechanical Engineering
Congress and Exposition.
The Robot as a Surgical Assistant
Yusef Kudsi, MD, MBA
Tufts University
Yusef Kudsi, MD, MBA, is Assistant Professor of Surgery at Tufts University School of Medicine.
A graduate of the Minimally Invasive Surgery Fellowship Program at Beth Israel Deaconess
Medical Center, Kudsi is an accomplished bariatric and minimally invasive general surgeon.
His clinical and research interests are in minimally invasive techniques, technologies, and
robotic surgery. He is a member of several professional societies, including the American
College of Surgeons (ACS), the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons
(SAGES), the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract (SSAT), and the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric
Surgery (ASMBS).
Robotic Technology in Endovascular Surgery
Alan Lumsden, MD
Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center
Alan Lumsden, MD, is Professor and Chair of Cardiovascular Surgery and Medical Director of
the Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center.
Lumsden’s clinical expertise is in stent graft treatment of thoracic and abdominal aortic
aneurysmal disease, stenting and endarterectomy in carotid arterial disease, renovascular hypertension, aortoiliac occlusive disease, mesenteric vascular and minimally invasive therapy in
venous disease. His research interests are in restenosis and developing newer methods of minimally invasive therapy.
Lumsden has an international reputation as a leader in the field of endovascular surgery. His work has resulted in more
than 200 scientific articles, abstracts, books, book chapters, and more than 100 presentations.
Challenges in Robotic GI Surgery
A. James Moser, MD
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard
A. James Moser, MD, is Co-Director of the Pancreas and Liver Institute at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School.
Moser’s clinical and research activities are focused on caring for patients with complex
pancreatic diseases, in particular pancreatic cancer and chronic pancreatitis. Additional clinical
interests are benign and malignant diseases of the gallbladder and bile ducts, gastric surgery,
pancreatic auto-islet transplantation, and pancreatic cancer clinical trials.
Moser is nationally recognized as an innovator and pioneer in the application of robotic technology and minimally
invasive approaches for the treatment of complex pancreatic diseases. He co-pioneered the technical development of
the robot-assisted minimally invasive pancreatectomy and performed the first comparative-effectiveness research of
robotic pancreatic resection. Moser’s clinical research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, industry,
and non-profit foundations.
Using Robots in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Autism
Brian Scassellati, PhD
Yale University
Brian Scassellati, PhD, is Professor of Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, and Materials Science at Yale University and Director of the NSF Expedition on Socially Assistive Robotics.
His research focuses on building embodied computational models of human social behavior,
especially the developmental progression of early social skills. Using computational modeling
and socially interactive robots, his research evaluates models of how infants acquire social
skills and assists in the diagnosis and quantification of disorders of social development,
such as autism. His other interests include humanoid robots, human-robot interaction, artificial intelligence, machine
perception, and social learning.
Scassellati’s research in social robotics and assistive robotics has been recognized within the robotics community, the
cognitive science community, and the broader scientific community. He was named an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow in 2007
and received an NSF Career award in 2003. His work has been awarded four best-paper awards. He was the chairman
of the IEEE Autonomous Mental Development Technical Committee from 2006-2007. He was the program chair of the
IEEE International Conference on Development and Learning in both 2007 and 2008 and was the program chair for the
IEEE/ACM International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction in 2009. Descriptions of his recent work have been
published in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times Sunday Magazine, Popular Science, New Scientist, APA Monitor on Psychology, SEED Magazine, and NPR’s All Things Considered.
Robotic Endoscopy
Stefano Stramigioli, PhD
University of Twente
Stefano Stramigioli, PhD, is Professor of Advanced Robotics and Chair of the Robotics and
Mechatronics Group at the University of Twente. He is an IEEE Fellow and IEEE RAS officer. He
currently serves as Vice President for Academia of SPARC, the EU Robotics PPP program (2.8 B
Euros program).
Stramigioli is the Emeritus Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine.
Under his leadership, the journal’s impact factor ranking among robotics journals increased from seventh place to first
place. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the Springer Journal of Intelligent Service Robotics. He was an AdCom
member of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, and was founder and chair of the Electronic Products and
Services of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society. He served as Vice President for Membership of the IEEE Robotics
and Automation Society for two consecutive terms.
Stramigioli is involved in multiple projects related to control and robotics for medical and inspection applications.
Nationally, he is a member of the management team of the graduate school DISC, and serves as chair of RoboNED, the
national platform coordinating all academic, industrial, and governmental institutions on robotics and is responsible
for producing a Strategic Research Agenda for Robotics for the Netherlands. He has served as UT representative for the
formation of the 3TU CoE on Intelligent Mechatronic Systems and the 3TU Master on System and Control. He received
the 2009 IEEE-RAS Distinguished Service Award and is a member of the 3TU Center of Excellence on Intelligent
Mechatronics Systems.
National Science Foundation Priorities in Robotics
Jeffrey Trinkle, PhD
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute/National Science Foundation
Jeffrey Trinkle, PhD, is Professor of Computer Science, Director of the CS Robotics Lab, and
Faculty Dean of Residential Commons at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). He is currently
on leave from RPI at the National Science Foundation (NSF) as a Program Director in the
Division of Information and Intelligent Systems, with primary responsibility for the National
Robotics Initiative.
Trinkle’s primary research interests are in robotic manipulation, multibody dynamics, and automated manufacturing.
Under the continuous support of the NSF since 1989, he has written many technical articles on theoretical issues
underpinning the science of robotics and automation. One of these articles developed a now-popular method for
simulating multibody systems with intermittent contact. Variants of this method are key components of several physics engines, for example, NVIDIA PhysX and the Bullet Physics Library, which are used for engineering analysis and
physics-based special effects in movies.
Trinkle has served on the editorial boards of IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation, IEEE Transactions on
Automation Science and Engineering, and Robotica. He spent the 2009-2010 academic year as a Humboldt Fellow at
the Institute for Mechatronics and Robotics at the German Aerospace Center and the Institute for Applied Mechanics
at Technical University of Munich. In 2010, he became a fellow of the IEEE for his research contributions to robotic
grasping and dexterous manipulation.
Roberta & Stephen R. Weiner Department of Surgery
110 Francis Street, 9th floor
Boston, MA 02215
bidmc.org/surgery