Pietro Valdastri

A collaboration between international and Vanderbilt University researchers is helping to update a tried-and-true medical technology for the 21st century. The development of an intelligent and autonomous Magnetic Flexible Endoscope holds the promise of making colonoscopies safer, less painful, more widely available and less expensive. Read More

Addisu Taddese, National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship recipient, holds a medical capsule robot. (Heidi Hall/Vanderbilt University) Researchers around the globe who want to customize medical capsule robots won’t have to start from scratch – a team from Vanderbilt University School of Engineering did the preliminary work for… Read More

Pietro Valdastri is convinced that the clever application of magnetic force can make minimally invasive surgery easier and more effective. “In 2007, a team of University of Texas researchers did some basic experiments using magnets in laparoscopic surgery,” said Valdastri, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and director of Vanderbilt… Read More

A Vanderbilt engineering professor is a lead or co-inventor of six of the 10 “cool inventions” in 2014 highlighted by the university’s Center for Technology Transfer and Commercialization in this video. The CTTC selected 10 from last year’s 200 inventions… Read More

Ten years ago Vanderbilt researchers published a paper that has passed the test of time. This year, the Conference on Embedded Networked Sensor Systems (SenSys)  introduced a new Test of Time Award at its 12th annual  event held in Nov. 3-6 in Memphis, Tenn. SenSys is… Read More

Pietro Valdastri, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Vanderbilt University, and colleagues will continue to develop a unique endoscope for colonoscopy in patients with inflammatory bowel disease with the support of a 4-year, $1.5 million grant – “A magnetic capsule endoscope for colonoscopy in patients with… Read More

Last year, the White House launched its “SmartAmerica” challenge. The basic idea was to identify research projects that illustrate how the increasing integration of computers with physical systems – sometimes called the ‘internet of things’ – can improve US competitiveness by creating new jobs and business opportunities that in… Read More

Vanderbilt University has received a competitive award from Penn State to  host an National Science Foundation–supported workshop to establish a new outreach program that will train students to become ambassadors in engineering education for area middle- and high-school students. The money will be used by the university’s… Read More

By David F. Salisbury In the foreseeable future, robots will stick steerable needles in your brain to remove blood clots, and capsule robots will crawl up your colon to reduce the pain of colonoscopies. “Bionic” prosthetic devices will help amputees regain lost mobility, and humanoid robots will help therapists give… Read More

A small, wireless capsule has been developed that can restore the sense of touch that surgeons are losing as they shift increasingly from open to minimally invasive surgery. During open surgery, doctors rely on their sense of touch to identify the edges of hidden tumors and to locate hidden blood… Read More