The Operating Theatre journal April 2021

More documents

Recommendations

Info

WINNERS ANNOUNCED: Medical Robotics for ContagiousDiseases Challenge 2020 – UK Robotics WeekTop global robotics teams named for inventions including telerobotics for remote control of medical equipment and automated disinfectionThe EPSRC UK-RAS Network, organisers of the annual UK RoboticsWeek, is pleased to announce the winners of its inaugural MedicalRobotics for Contagious Diseases Challenge 2020, recognising theoutstanding innovation of leading global robotics research teams indeveloping solutions to tackle the COVID-19 health crisis and futureglobal pandemics.The three winners in each category were unveiled at a virtual awardceremony held today, with each winning team receiving prize money of£5000 generously donated by The Wellcome Trust and Intuitive Surgical.The winners and runners-up are:Best Application‘UVC-PURGE: A Semi-autonomous Virus Disinfection Robot’ by the teamat Military Institute of Science & Technology (MIST).Runner Up: ‘Teleoperated wheelchair with isolation hood’ by the teamat Amrita Viswa Vidyapeetham (Amrita University).Best Innovation‘Telerobotics for Remote Control of Medical Equipment in ContagiousEnvironments’ by the team at Johns Hopkins University.Runner Up: ‘Towards Affordable Soft Robotic Bronchoscopy’ by theteam at Imperial College London and Institut Teknologi Bandung.Best Design‘An Intelligent Robotic System for Automated Precision Disinfection inPublic Spaces’ by the team at Leeds University.Runner Up: ‘A master-slave robotic system for both endotrachealintubation and bronchoscopy for the treatment of COVID-19’ by theteam at Tianjin University.This unique challenge attracted 21 entries from 13 countries –Bangladesh, China, Colombia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel,Mexico, Pakistan, Uganda, UK and USA – and the winners were decided,from a shortlist of 17 exceptional submissions, by a prestigious judgingpanel, including Professor the Lord Darzi of Denham, Co-Director ofIGHI, Professor of Surgery at Imperial College London,UK; Simon Di Maio, Director, Research at Intuitive Surgical, USA; Prof.Russell H. Taylor, John C. Malone Professor at John’s Hopkins University,USA; and Dr. Thomas Neff, Manager Software Medical Robotics at KUKADeutschland GmbH, De.The competition – which was run as part of the EPSRC UK Robotics& Autonomous Systems (UK-RAS) Network’s annual UK Robotics Weekcelebrations – took place entirely online, offering flexibility for remoteworking during the pandemic.Professor Robert Richardson, Chair of the EPSRC UK-RAS Networkcommented: “The engagement of the world’s leading roboticsresearchers with this Challenge has been nothing short of incredible,and the quality of the entries we received really underscore the vitalcontribution that is being made by robotics platforms during thispandemic in delivering solutions for the global community. The entireUK-RAS team and our superb judging panel offer our congratulationsto the winners, runners-up, and all the teams who took part in thisunique competition, which is going to provide an important launchpadfor pandemic response innovations as we look beyond the immediatecrisis to addressing future public health challenges.”The UK Robotics Week is being revamped this year. The network plansto launch a 3-month Robotics Summer Showcase to run from May toJuly this year, which will feature events aimed at engaging academics,industry and other stakeholders within the RAS community. Nestledwithin the Summer Showcase programme, a 7-day UK Robotics Festivalwill run from 19th – 25th June with a focus on public-facing events.The EPSRC UK-RAS Network was established in 2015 with the aimof bringing together academic centres of excellence, industry,government funding bodies and charities, to strategically grow the UK-RAS research base, acting as a portal to interface with industry anddeliver technological advances for translational impact.A highlight video compilation of the 17 shortlisted entries is availablenow on the EPSRC UK-RAS YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrH1XW_pVxYwww.Operating peratingTheatre heatreJobs.comA one-stop resource for ALL your theatre related Career opportunitiesView the latest vacancies online !28 THE OPERATING THEATRE JOURNAL www.otjonline.com
WHY MEN MUST RESEARCH THEIR PROSTATE CANCER TREATMENT OPTIONSGrowing clinical evidence-base highlights long-term side effects andrisks associated with the most popular prostate cancer treatmentsThere is currently no consensus as to the optimal treatment for localisedprostate cancer, and urologists and radiation oncologists continue todebate the relative merits of therapies. Most men and their partnersultimately choose a therapy based on how well informed they are aboutthe various options, their respective side effect profiles and personallifestyle choices, and recommendation from their consultant.Yet, for many men, this is a confusing and worrying time. Men diagnosedwith localised prostate cancer have numerous management options,including active surveillance, androgen-deprivation (hormone) therapy,and definitive therapy with the intent to eradicate or cure the cancer.Among patients who are offered these curative-intent treatments,the vast majority are offered either radical prostatectomy (surgeryto remove the prostate) or radiation therapy. Radiation therapy,however, includes a range of treatments and dosing including externalbeambased therapies, high-dose-rate (HDR) or low-dose- rate (LDR)brachytherapy, and combinations of beam and brachytherapy, with orwithout hormone therapy. Choosing amongst these can be a dauntingtask.However, there is a growing clinical evidence-base which suggestscertain standard-practice treatment options and doses may not be aseffective, and / or have significant long-term clinical side effects thatclinicians and patients alike should be aware of.Urinary Adverse Events after High- versus Low-Dose-Rate Brachytherapywith or without Radical (External-beam) RadiotherapyA 2016 study comparing the incidence of severe urinary adverseevents (UAEs) after low-dose-rate (LDR) and high-dose-rate (HDR)brachytherapy, as well as after LDR plus external beam radiationtherapy (EBRT) and HDR plus EBRT, found no statistically significanttoxicity differences were observed between LDR and HDR. However,combination radiation therapy (either HDR plus EBRT or LDR plus EBRT)increases the risk of severe UAEs compared with HDR alone or LDRalone.Single-dose High-Dose-Rate BrachytherapyMost recently, a 2021 study by Shreya Armstrong et al of the MountVernon Cancer Centre, Northwood, UK, undertook a retrospectivereview of treatment records of patients who received single-dose(fraction) HDR-B, concluding that long-term follow up of single doseHDR-B for localised prostate cancer has revealed higher than expectedrates of biochemical and local failure and should therefore not be usedas a monotherapy for intermediate- and high-risk cancer patients.This is further backed up by a 2019 study from Leeds Teaching HospitalsNHS Trust comparing men with intermediate and high risk prostatecancer treated using LDR–EBRT and HDR–EBRT, which concluded thatpatients treated with HDR–EBRT were more than twice as likely toexperience biochemical progression compared with LDR–EBRT.Moreover, recent advances in the development of LDR Brachytherapy,such as 4D Brachytherapy, mean that the treatment is now available asa one-stage implant technique that can normally be performed within45 minutes. Improved dosimetry and clinical outcomes together withreduced side effects have been demonstrated over traditional twostageapproaches.Saheed Rashid, Managing Director, BXTAccelyon, comments: “While theimportance of men and their families researching all the treatmentoptions available to them and discussing these with their consultantmust be emphasised, there is an increasing body of evidence tosuggest that, of the curative-intent treatment options, Low-Dose-RateBrachytherapy as a mono- or combination therapy, has favourableoutcomes and fewer adverse side effects.“As a treatment, this option has been proven for over 25 years, andadvancements such as 4D brachytherapy and NHS England supportedtoxicity barriers have further improved the patient experience.”Augmented reality could change the way we carryout minimally invasive surgeryOver the last few decades, minimally invasive surgery (MIS) has replaced open surgery as the preferred method across many medical fields.However, the relatively restricted field of view in MIS poses challenges when performing procedures that require three-dimensional visualization,such as correct device placement or removal of sensitive tissues.Previous technological attempts at expanding the view during MIS have involved adopting surgical scene reconstruction techniques. However,most existing techniques have yet to demonstrate consistent performance capabilities. Consequently, greater emphasis has recently been directedtowards developing the pre-existing technology of augmented reality (AR).AR allows the user to see the real world overlaid with a layer of digital content. It can address the visual shortcomings of MIS by expanding the fieldof view for surgeons. Furthermore, as healthcare systems globally are still overburdened with the additional pressures of the COVID-19 outbreak,new hospital measures of limiting viral transmissions between physicians and patients are highly sought after. Surgeons opting for MIS couldstrongly benefit from AR when performing procedures that would normally have been an open surgery. Advancements and wide-spread adoptionof AR in MIS can thus limit patient exposure to aerosolized viral particles.AR will improve the planning and mapping of MISAR could be one of many approaches to reducing this burden on hospitals by indirectly controlling the spread of the coronavirus. MIS reducessurgeons’ exposure to aerosolized coronavirus particles. Open surgery also typically involves a longer hospital stay, which may increase nosocomialvirus transmission and increase pressure on resources and hospital bed capacity.Research from the University of Alberta and the University of Salento found AR could be particularly useful in laparoscopic surgery and surgicalplanning. The integration of AR into MIS means surgeons would not solely rely on endoscopes. Instead, AR projections of scans can be superimposedon patients in real-time to aid planning and increase accuracy when placing devices. For patients, this could reduce the chances of trauma andscarring while also accelerating postoperative recovery.AR may not be embraced across all surgical procedures, as its use is strongly dependent on the rigidity of the organs or tissues involved in theoperation. For example, AR has found relative success in neurosurgery for both the brain and spine as the structures are rigid, which helps thesurgeon differentiate between the augmentation and the actual scene. On the other hand, AR and other types of image-guided surgery are unlikelyto be used for abdominal MIS as organs and tissues are less rigid. Instead, traditional endoscopic views will continue to be relied upon for theseprocedures.The future of MISAR has the potential to improve the accuracy of minimally invasive procedures, and in turn, reduce surgical errors. Worth nearly $4bn in 2018, theglobal AR market will reach $76bn by 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24%, according to GlobalData estimates. AR in MISis currently still being researched. ProjectDR is one of the software platforms exploring how AR can improve visualization in the operating theatre.ProjectDR projects medical scans directly onto a patient body and can even provide segmented images if the surgeon selects this function. AR’suse for MIS is still in the early stages, but GlobalData expects this technology to significantly impact the healthcare industry over the next fewyears.Source: Medical Device NetworkFind out more 02921 680068 • e-mail admin@lawrand.com Issue 367 April 2021 29
Page 1 and 2: THE THETHESEPTEMBER APRIL 2020 2021
Page 3 and 4: THE THETHESEPTEMBER APRIL 2020 2021
Page 6 and 7: AfPP has helped my career grow expo
Page 8 and 9: A £1.7M refurbishment of theatres
Page 10 and 11: Sheffield researchers to lead major
Page 12 and 13: Bender UK expands with new business
Page 14 and 15: Major Multi-Disciplinary Spine Conf
Page 16 and 17: Pioneering £1.8m study to investig
Page 18 and 19: From bomb disposal to pioneering he
Page 20 and 21: Assuring Sterility in Surgical Inst
Page 22 and 23: How can Civility in the Operating T
Page 24 and 25: First Total ShoulderArthroplasty Us
Page 26 and 27: FDA is Investigating Reports of Inf
Page 30: Your firstchoice inanaesthesiaA ran

The Operating Theatre journal April 2021

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?