Dr. Jake Abbott

Friday, February 22, 2019
9:30-10:20 am
Bldg. 320, Room 105

This seminar is open to the public. Students in ME 328 and CS/ME 571 are required to attend.

Seminar Topic: Magnetic Manipulation in Medical Robotics

Microscale and mesoscale robotic devices that navigate the natural pathways of the human body have the potential to push minimally invasive medicine toward becoming truly noninvasive. Because of the small size of these devices, carrying power and actuation sources onboard is extremely challenging. Consequently, there is a great deal of interest in the area of magnetic manipulation, such that the system's primary source of actuation and intelligence can be located outside of the patient's body. In this talk, I will discuss a number of research projects that I have been involved with over the past decade exploring methods to use magnetic fields for future minimally invasive medical robotic systems. Topics will include microrobots for retinal drug deliver, microrobots that swim like bacteria, magnetic screws that can drill through soft tissue, a magnetically guided cochlear implant, and an actively controlled capsule endoscope for inspection of the gastrointestinal tract. Systems have utilized both electromagnets and permanent magnets.

Speaker Bio

Dr. Jake Abbott is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Utah. He is the head of the Telerobotics Lab, where his research involves medical and microscale telerobotic systems, with a primary focus on the use of magnetic fields for manipulation. His research was been supported by the NSF, NIH, NASA, and industry. Previously, he was a postdoctoral research associate in the Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems at ETH Zurich in Switzerland. He received a B.S. degree at Utah State University, an M.S. degree at the University of Utah, and a Ph.D. degree at Johns Hopkins University, all in mechanical engineering. Dr. Abbott is a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award, the Best Manipulation Paper award at the 2010 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, the Best Poster award at the 2013 Hamlyn Symposium on Medical Robotics, the Best Paper Award at the 2014 IEEE Haptics Symposium, and the Best Paper Award in Medical Robotics at the 2017 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. Dr. Abbott is an Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Robotics and the International Journal of Robotics Research.