Clemson receives grant to advance key surgical procedure

Published: August 7, 2012

CLEMSON — A collaboration involving a Clemson University institute that leads research and education in advanced biomaterials and tissue fabrication has received a National Science Foundation grant to advance an increasingly favored surgical procedure.

The team has received a $50,000 I-Corps grant to explore commercialization of a haptic device to train laparoscopic surgeons.

Laparoscopic surgery is a minimally invasive surgical technique where surgeons insert long tools through small incisions made in the abdomen and perform surgery via camera images relayed on a monitor.

The team comprises Institute for Biological Interfaces of Engineering (IBIOE) investigator Timothy Burg, an associate professor in electrical and computer engineering; Ravi Singapogu, a graduating electrical and computer engineering doctoral student; and Lisa Perpall, technology commercialization officer with the Clemson University Research Foundation.

The procedure’s non-invasive nature is desirable from a patient’s perspective, said Burg. As such, there is an enormous demand for medical residents to learn this surgical technique.

“Acquiring the skills needed for proficient laparoscopy is extremely challenging because of the surgeon’s ‘remoteness’ to the surgical site,” Burg said. “Consequently, surgical errors during laparoscopic procedures can be caused by the misapplication of forces on tissues.”

The National Science Foundation I-Corps’ purpose is to identify NSF-funded researchers who will receive additional support — in the form of mentoring and funding — to accelerate innovation that has commercial potential.

The Clemson team will study a new method to train surgery residents to apply controlled forces via a novel surgical simulator for force-based — or haptic — laparoscopic skills.

The Institute for Biological Interfaces of Engineering vision is to enable development of clinically relevant biomaterials technology and products for disease management and the transfer of this technology for patient care through leading biomaterials-related education, research and training in advanced biomaterials, human centered electronic collaboration, tissue fabrication and tissue test systems. 

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