C L A I R E • A P U A N

Projects About Resume

MR-Guided Robotically-actuated C1-C2 Fusion

Robotics Lead
Thayer School of Engineering, Hanover, NH
2019

Medical Device Design Objective: Develop a surgical drill and guidance system that will enable an orthopedic surgeon to accurately position a surgical drill using MR-guidance to plan and validate the trajectory for C1-C2 vertebral fusion procedures. The framework includes the following elements:

  1. MR-compatible drill and articulation framework
  2. Image-guidance software for specifying the trajectory of the drill
  3. A sensor suite for providing real-time feedback regarding the drilling procedure (i.e. depth sensors, forces sensors, torque sensors, etc.)
  4. A test bench for evaluating and validating this surgical guidance framework

Percutaneous Minimally Invasive System

Robotically Actuated & MR-compatible framework

Transarticular Screw fixation of the C1 and C2 Vertebrae

My role: the Guidance System


I worked with specialists in spinal surgery to shape the requirements of our system.
Then, I was responsible for working on the Mechanical Team to invent the Guidance System. I fabricated a robotic translation and actuation system for the given pneumatic drill with +/- 1 mm precision. I acquired and programmed (Matlab) a 6 DOF robot arm that places the drill in the pose provided by an interactive GUI.
Lastly, I utilized Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) Risk Analysis to iterate solutions.