The members of Surgical Robotics and Imaging Laboratory (SRIL) at DGIST, Korea have studied on computer-aided surgical systems and their clinical applications. The research area is largely grouped into two categories which are surgical navigation and surgical robotics. The members are focused on augmented reality and hand-eye calibration in the surgical navigation area. In surgical robotics area, bone drilling robot, single port surgery robot, and flexible catheter robot have been studied. Among them, three main research topics are introduced here as follows;
Surgical navigation for cardiac intervention: A 2D-3D registration system for cardiac Intervention has been developed to assist in chronic total occlusion intervention. It can reduce misidentification of the coronary artery or incorrect positioning of the stenosis.
Fig. 1 AR navigation for chronic total occlusion
Depth perception enhancement in augmented reality-based surgical navigation: Depth perception is a major issue in AR-based surgical navigation. To improve depth perception, seamless switching method from AR to VR was proposed and implemented. In addition, the minimum distance between the tip of the surgical tool and the nearest organ is calculated and displayed in a real time to compensate for insufficient depth perception.
Fig. 2 AR and VR switching display to enhance depth perception
A drilling robot for bone biopsy: We have developed a drilling robot for bone tissues by using rolling friction mechanism. With a vision guided system, the drilling robot can align the insertion angle and guide the tool tip to the target point precisely.
Fig. 3 CT guided bone drilling robot using rolling friction mechanism
Motivated members of SRIL
The SRIL Lab is directed by Prof. Jaesung Hong who has diverse experiences and knowledge across computer science, biomedical engineering, and clinical medicine. He has developed customized surgical navigation systems and clinically applied them in various surgeries, including percutaneous ablation therapies for liver tumors, cochlear implant surgeries, neurosurgeries for gliomas resection, and dental implant surgeries. We currently have 14 lab members comprising of master and PhD students as well as full-time researchers. A passionate discussion of each research topic is actively taking place with collaborative atmosphere and constructive communication with many surgeons in the diverse area, which helps to develop the cutting-edge of innovative robotic and imaging techniques for the surgery.
Fig. 4 Lab members of SRIL
Active collaborations at home and abroad
We are working with many surgeons and have ongoing collaborative projects with major Korean and foreign hospitals and institutions including the groups of Seoul National University Hospital and Johns Hopkins University.
Current ongoing research and future direction
Recently, a tablet PC-based portable AR surgical navigation system has been developed for bone tumor resections and orthognathic surgeries for the first time and received positive feedbacks. We are also concentrating on the translation of medical technology into clinical practice. Currently, a technology transfer regarding dental implant navigation for digital dentistry platform has been made with a dental implant company of Korea.
To see more on the SRIL Lab activity, please visit http://sr.dgist.ac.kr/
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