Education

Ph.D., Bioengineering, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna -2006

M.Sc., Electrical Engineering, University of Pisa -2002

Research Interests

Capsule robots for wireless or softly tethered operation toward painless endoscopy and scarless surgery

Current Projects

Science and Technology of Robotics in Medicine - STORM Lab
Pietro Valdastri
The continuous quest for miniaturization has made the science fiction vision of miniature capsule robot working inside the human body come true. At the STORM Lab, we are designing and creating mechatronic and self-contained devices to be used inside specific districts of the human body to detect and cure diseases in a non-invasive way. Capsule robots represent a challenging paradigm for both research and learning. They embed sensors, actuators, digital intelligence, miniaturized mechanisms, communication systems and power supply, all in a very small volume. Capsule robots may be autonomous or teleoperated, they can work alone or as a team, and they can be customized to fulfill specific functions. At the moment, we are applying capsule robot technologies to early detection and treatment of colorectal cancer, and we are developing a new generation of surgical robots that can enter the patient’s abdomen by a single tiny incision. However, we are always ready to face new challenges by modifying our capsule robots to emerging medical needs.

Research/Teaching Statement

The continuous quest for miniaturization has made the science fiction vision of miniature capsule robots working inside the human body come true. We are designing and creating mechatronic and self-contained devices to be used inside specific districts of the human body to detect and cure diseases in a non-invasive way. Capsule robots represent a challenging paradigm for both research and learning. They embed sensors, actuators, digital intelligence, miniaturized mechanisms, communication systems, and power supply-all in a very small volume. Capsule robots may be autonomous or teleoperated, they can work alone or as a team, and they can be customized to fulfill specific functions. At the moment, we are applying capsule robot technologies to early detection and treatment of colorectal cancer. We are also developing a new generation of surgical robots that can enter the patient's abdomen by a single tiny incision. Looking forward, we are ready to face new challenges by modifying our capsule robots to solve emerging medical needs.

About STORM Lab

The mission of the STORM Lab is to develop complete platforms based on capsule robots for wireless or softly tethered operation toward painless endoscopy and scarless surgery. We have facilities that enable us to design, model, simulate, fabricate, program, develop, test, and operate novel self-contained miniaturized robots. Particular emphasis is devoted to magnetic actuated smart mechanisms and trans-cutaneous active magnetic control. We have regular weekly interactions with our medical collaborators at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center and we strive to move our findings to patients in the smallest possible amount of time.

Publications

https://my.vanderbilt.edu/stormlab/