Title: A Growing Soft Robot
Abstract: Colonoscopy is an endoscopic method used to screen colon for detecting colorectal cancer which is the second leading mortality cause among all cancer types. Conventional colonoscopes are propelled and positioned manually that lead to the risk of colon perforation and patient discomfort. In this talk, I will present a novel robotic solution for colonoscopy operations that will reduce operational risk and improve patient comfort. My talk will focus on the development and evaluation of the robotic prototypes that are categorized as growing soft robots having huge potential not only for the medical applications, but also for inspection purposes in confined spaces and hard-to-access areas.
Bio: Evren Samur, who heads the Haptics & Robotics Lab, is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Boğaziçi University. He is also the R&D Director at HKTM Inc, a robotics company specializing in motion control technologies. He received his Ph.D. in Robotics from EPFL, Switzerland in 2010. His Ph.D. thesis was awarded as the best Ph.D. thesis of 2010 by the EuroHaptics Society. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Northwestern University in 2011, and a Fulbright Visiting Professor at Boston University in 2021. His research interests include soft robotics, medical robotics, industrial robotics, marine robotics, collaborative robots, robotic grippers, and haptics.