Robot For Clinical Breast Examinations (CBE) To Detect Cancer Early
The University of Bristol used 3D printing, other CNC techniques and employed a combination of laboratory experiments and simulated experiments on a fake (silicone) breast and its digital twin — creating a device that could carry out Clinical Breast Examinations (CBE).
The manipulator, designed by a team at the University of Bristol and based at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory, is able to apply very specific forces over a range similar to forces used by human examiners and can detect lumps using sensor technology at larger depths than before. This could revolutionise how women monitor their breast health by giving them access to safe electronic CBEs, located in easily accessible places, such as pharmacies and health centres, which provide accurate results.
Precision, repeatability and accuracy are of paramount importance in these tactile medical examinations to ensure favourable patient outcomes. A range of automatic and semi-automatic devices have been proposed to aid with optimising this task, particularly for difficult to detect and hard to reach situations such as during minimally invasive surgery.
The research team included a mix of postgraduate and undergraduate researchers, supervised by Dr Antonia Tzemanaki from Bristol Robotics Laboratory. Lead author George Jenkinson explained:
“There are conflicting ideas about how useful carrying out Clinical Breast Examinations (CBE) are for the health outcomes of the population. “It’s generally agreed upon that if it is well performed, then it can be a very useful and low risk diagnostic technique.
“There have been a few attempts in the past to use technology to improve the standard to which healthcare professionals can perform a CBE by having a robot or electronic device physically palpate breast tissue. But the last decade or so of technological advances in manipulation and sensor technology mean that we are now in a better position to do this.
“The first question that we want to answer as part of this is whether a specialised manipulator can be demonstrated to have the dexterity necessary to palpate a realistic breast size and shape.”
Intelligent Technology Fusion
The team created their manipulator using 3D printing and other Computerised Numerical Control (CNC) techniques and employed a combination of laboratory experiments and simulated experiments on a fake (silicone) breast and its digital twin, both modelled on a volunteer at the Simulation and Modelling in Medicine and Surgery research group at Imperial College London.
Read more here at page 36
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