ABSTRACT

Micro-scale robotic systems involving steerable guidewires have tremendous potential in addressing some of the most complex and challenging problems in endovascular interventions. One of the primary requirements of an endovascular robotic system is to be able to successfully steer the guidewire towards the target location with minimal or no harm to the vessel. Neurovascular interventions as well as Chronic total occlusions (CTOs) remain the riskiest, most challenging, and least successful vascular lesions to treat with traditional endovascular devices. Procedural complexity in treating CTOs as well as the first pass effect in stroke are attributed to multiple causes. Further, developing an autonomous/semi-autonomous system to work in conjunction with the clinician on-site or remotely possess additional procedural challenges. Hence, to realize a Physical AI system, it is critical to develop the “right” hardware platform on which intelligence can be embodied. This talk will present our work on addressing these challenges as well as open problems in autonomous endovascular interventions, in addition to the development of the world’s smallest robotically steerable guidewire actuated by a micro-tendon (measuring only 350 microns (0.014”) in diameter).

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Jaydev P. Desai is a Professor and Cardiovascular Biomedical Engineering Distinguished Chair in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, where he also serves as Senior Associate Chair. He is an Adjunct Professor in Mechanical Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering and the founding Director of the Georgia Center for Medical Robotics (GCMR). He earned his degrees from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, and the University of Pennsylvania, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University.

A recipient of NIH R01 grants and the NSF CAREER award, Dr. Desai has authored over 230 peer-reviewed publications and served as Editor-in-Chief for theJournal of Medical Robotics Research. His leadership has been recognized with the 2024 IEEE RAS George Saridis Leadership Award, the Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award, and the 2021 IEEE RAS Distinguished Service Award. His research focuses on endovascular, surgical, and pediatric robotics, as well as MEMS-based cancer diagnosis. Dr. Desai is a Fellow of the IEEE, ASME, and AIMBE, and a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors.