Continuum Robot

Colonoscopy is a widespread method to inspect the colon for masses or any anomalies and to take a sample of suspicious cancerous tissue with biopsy. This procedure is highly important for early detection of colon cancer and its treatment. During the procedure, a flexible shaft with a camera attached on its tip, is inserted in the colon to monitor or to biopsy. Colonoscopes in the market are guided in the colon with the push of the operator and the tip can be bent by adjusting the tension of cables that lie along the shaft. Since this system has low maneuverability, it can be really hard for the operators to guide it especially through the highly curved parts of the colon such as “sigmoid colon”. The operator has to maneuver through these sections, which can be time consuming or even risky . Possible complications of colonoscopy are; perforation, pain due to mechanical stress and hemorrhage.

At Bogazici University, I worked as a research assistant at the Haptics and Robotics lab under the supervision of Prof. Evren Samur. We came up with a concept for a continuum robot that might be suitable for endoscopy applications. I was the lead researcher in the first two years, mainly at the concept development stage. We formed a multi-disciplinary team with industry experts and medical doctors from Acibadem University to realize this goal.Our proposal to the Scientific Research Council of Turkey was awarded ~$750k.

During my time as a member of this project, I authored a journal paper, presented a poster at ICRA 2015 Soft Robotics workshop, and was awarded a patent valid in Turkey and the EU.

Although I left Bogazici University to pursue a PhD in the US, it is still exciting to see the progress still being made there!