A medical robotics company has licensed University of Central Florida expertise to develop software for a new surgical-robotic platform.
AVRA Medical Robotics Inc., which has an office in the UCF Business Incubator, has partnered with Professor Zhihua Qu and research Professor Eytan Pollak of the College of Engineering & Computer Science to develop algorithms and sensors to navigate and control a robot capable of assisting physicians with performing minimally invasive surgical procedures in an ambulatory setting or operating room.
Barry F. Cohen, AVRA founder and chairman, said he was drawn to UCF because of its engineering strength for the development of a modular, robotic-assistive system that will be portable, precise and affordable.
“UCF research is providing the precision and guidance necessary for a computer-driven robotic system that will facilitate superior outcomes,” Cohen said.
AVRA partnered with a new industry-sponsored innovation program at UCF by providing $200,000 initially with planned follow-up funding for the research and the rights to any intellectual property developed during the project. In addition, Avra will pay UCF 1 percent in royalty fees for annual sales exceeding $20 million resulting from the intellectual property.
“At UCF we encourage the collaboration between our research and industry. Initiatives such as this innovation program help streamline the process and move pioneering research into the market,” said Elizabeth Klonoff, vice president for research and dean of the College of Graduate Studies.
Qu and Pollak have extensive backgrounds in the development of computer-operated systems that encompass the integration of tools and sensors, real-time image/data processing, navigation, control and human-machine interface. Qu’s research has included robotic platforms and autonomous vehicles for the Department of Defense, applications and intelligent robotic systems for life support on Mars among others, autonomous coordination of robotic devices, and human-robot teaming.
Pollak has 30 years’ experience in managing complex research and development programs, holds several patents and has published papers in control systems and robotics. He is also the director of strategic technologies at L-3 Communications Link Simulation & Training.
Based on an original concept proposed by Qu, his graduate students Niladri Basu Bal and Deepalakshmi Babu Venkateswaran have implemented navigation/control algorithms and completed a 3-D computer visualization of how such a robotic device would work. Computer-aided design and development of a graphic user interface for surgeons are now under way.
AVRA has recently added some industry partners to its team. Anthony Nicholson, a longtime benefactor of UCF, serves as a senior advisor of the company, and Peter Carnegie, CEO of Minimally Invasive Solutions in Ocoee, and Dr. Nikhil Shah of Atlanta, are new directors.
For more information go to [email protected].
research
Research connects overeating during national sporting events to medical problems
New study says higher percentage of patients seek treatment
People who overeat during national holidays and national sporting events – like this weekend’s Super Bowl – are 10 times more likely to need emergency medical attention for food obstruction than any at other time of the year, according to a new study led by a University of Florida researcher.
Dr. Asim Shuja, a gastroenterologist at UF Health Jacksonville, led the research team. The study used data collected over an 11-year period from the emergency room at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Boston.
“Though the sample size was small, it’s clear that a pattern emerged showing a higher percentage of people seeking treatment during or just after the holiday or event,” Shuja said, “and a much greater percentage during those times needed help because food was impacted in their esophagus. It’s a very serious problem that people need to be aware of.”
Most of the problems affected men, and most of the cases came during or just after the Thanksgiving holiday. But Shuja and the other researchers say other holidays, such as New Year’s Day or events such as the Super Bowl, also were associated with a higher incidence of cases.
Serving size and how quickly people ate were listed as possible risk factors, as was alcohol consumption.
Over the study period, from 2001 to 2012, 38 people underwent an emergency procedure on the esophagus during or just after the holiday or sporting event time period (within three days of the event). Nearly 37 percent of those were due to a food impaction. Comparatively, of the 81 who had the same procedure two weeks before and two weeks after the event during the “control period,” just under 4 percent were due to food impaction. During holidays and national sporting events, the most common impacted food was turkey (50 percent), followed by chicken (29 percent) and beef (21 percent).
“We think the main message here is for people to be aware and not to, for lack of a better term, overindulge,” Shuja said. “Not only the amount of food you’re eating during the holiday or event, but the size of the portion you’re eating can have a tremendous impact.”
The paper was published in the December issue of the journal Gastroenterology Report.
Other institutions involved in the study were Tufts Medical Center in Boston and Central Texas VA Healthcare System in Temple, Texas.
Gov. Scott announces grant funding for Zika Virus research and vaccine development
Governor Rick Scott announced today 34 grant awards for Zika virus research following his authorization of $25 million in state funds for Zika research and vaccine development last fall. Grant funding will be used to help expedite the development of a vaccine to prevent Zika infection, understand and mitigate long-term impacts of Zika virus on children and adults and develop innovative, cost-effective Zika testing methods.
Governor Scott said, “I am proud to announce the recipients of these important research grants today. While we are currently in winter months when Zika is not as prevalent, we must remain vigilant and continue to do everything we can to help protect pregnant women and their developing babies. I look forward to seeing the innovation and progress of Florida’s world-class research institutions as we continue to work together in the fight against Zika and to find a vaccine.”
State Surgeon General and Secretary Dr. Celeste Philip said, “While we are currently experiencing a seasonal reprieve from the Zika virus, we cannot relax our efforts. I am grateful for Governor Scott’s leadership that enables us to provide researchers in Florida funds to expand the body of knowledge related to Zika, particularly in the areas of prevention and effects on infants and children.”
The Florida Department of Health (DOH) oversaw the grant process, which was awarded through a competitive process based on recommendations by the Biomedical Research Advisory Council. Researchers at any university or research institute in Florida were eligible to apply.
The following organizations received grant funding awards:
Florida Atlantic University – $199,280
Florida International University – $2,183,004
Florida State University – $2,169,675
Moffitt Cancer Center – $199,280
Nova Southeastern University – $198,886
The Scripps Research Institute – $199,280
University of Central Florida – $1,297,817
University of Florida – $2,922,999
University of Miami – $13,170,784
University of South Florida – $2,458,995
For a full breakdown on projects and grant funding, please click HERE.
UCF Professor’s Research Part of First Mission to Jupiter’s Trojan Asteroids
University of Central Florida Physics Professor Dan Britt will help explore some of the oldest asteroids in the solar system thanks to a new NASA mission.
NASA, this month selected the Lucy mission, which will explore Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids for the first-time. The robotic spacecraft will also explore a larger asteroid within the asteroid belt. Scientists said they believe the Trojan belt is home to some of the oldest remnants of the solar system.
Information gleaned from this mission is expected to help mankind understand the formation of planets and the solar system. That’s why the team named its project Lucy – after the female skeleton fossil discovered in 1974, which changed the understanding of human origins on Earth.
The Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo., will lead the mission, and Britt is serving on its science team and leading one of its Science Working Groups. Britt, director of the Center for Lunar & Asteroid Surface Science at UCF (https://sciences.ucf.edu/class/), will provide his expertise in physical properties of asteroids and their geology.
“It should be a lot of fun,” Britt said. “This mission has six flybys of the asteroids because of its trajectory and it has relatively low risks. Given the information we will be able to collect, it is quite an attractive mission.”
Several of the Lucy members are veterans from the New Horizons mission that helped shed new light on Pluto. Lucy is expected to launch from Kennedy Space Center in 2021.
“Because the Trojans are remnants of the primordial material that formed the outer planets, they hold vital clues to deciphering the history of the solar system,” said principal investigator Harold Levison. “Lucy, like the human fossil for which it is named, will revolutionize the understanding of our origins.”
Lucy is part of NASA’s Discovery Program. The Discovery Program was created in 1992 to sponsor frequent, cost-capped solar system exploration missions ($450 million) with highly focused scientific goals. Past missions include MESSENGER, Dawn, Stardust, Deep Impact, Genesis and GRAIL.
Energy Grant to UCF to Accelerate Biofuel Research, Mainstream Adoption
The adoption of highly efficient, low-emission alternative biofuels just got a boost thanks to $7 million worth of Department of Energy grants announced earlier this month.
The University of Central Florida landed two grants worth more than $1.25 million, which will help the Department of Energy accelerate the introduction of affordable, scalable and sustainable high-performance alternative fuels for use in high-efficiency, low-emission vehicle engines. UCF and seven other teams won a total of eight grants.
Competition was stiff and the UCF team bested hundreds of other multi-university teams. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for example, also successfully won a grant. Its team includes UCF Engineering Professor Subith Vasu, who also is working with the UCF team.
“We are honored and excited to be the recipient of two of eight awards from this highly competitive program,” said Debra Reinhart, associate vice president for research and scholarship. “These awards place us in an elite group of researchers who are paving the way toward maximizing fuel-use efficiency while minimizing environmental impacts.”
The federal agency announced the awards as part of its Co-Optimization of Fuels and Engines initiative, which “aims to simultaneously transform both transportation fuels and vehicles in order to maximize performance and energy efficiency, minimize environmental impact, and accelerate widespread adoption of innovative combustion strategies.”
But the challenge isn’t just finding the best fuel that works with high-performance engines. To achieve widespread adoption, there are many other challenges that must be solved. For example, can the new fuel be piped into stations without leaking into surrounding soil and damaging the environment? Will special seals be needed in engines or at distribution points to protect engine parts and humans from fumes?
UCF’s project will not only look at the viability of compounds and their potential use in high-performing engines, but the team will put the compounds through nine tests that will provide information about the likelihood of being able to safely, efficiently and cost-effectively mass produce and deliver the alternative fuels.
“We will be looking at hundreds of compounds,” said UCF Engineering Assistant Professor Kareem Ahmed, who is the lead investigator for the UCF-led project. “Some of them have never been tested, so we will be putting them through an array of tests to explore and evaluate fuel-spray atomization, flame topology, flame speed, auto-ignition, volatility, viscosity, soot/coking, and compatibility.”
These tests will provide the DOE information that will help the agency and engine manufacturers determine which fuels might be good ones to pursue for further development.
UCF’s experience with similar fuel studies for aircraft engines helped position the university to be competitive, Ahmed said. And the Center for Advanced Turbomachinery and Energy Research (http://cater.cecs.ucf.edu/) on the main campus is positioned to test and provide the data.
“This effort aims at holistic or comprehensive characterization of biofuels or any other alternative fuel,” said UCF Engineering Professor and CATER director Jayanta Kapat. He is also a member of the team. “Most prior research efforts have been aimed at production of fuels and/or evaluation of a few properties. However, automotive applications, and supply-and-delivery logistics require a plethora of properties to be within prescribed ranges for such fuel to be classified as a ‘drop-in’ replacement. This is the need that this project will address.”
Kapat said he believes this is the first effort in holistic or comprehensive characterization of biofuels in a U.S university.
Vasu’s work with MIT is unique, as well. The project will construct computer models to predict the combustion chemistry of proposed biofuels, which can then be used to determine which of the proposed fuels will have high performance in advanced engines. Vasu’s role will be to provide data from experiments in his lab, which will feed the computer models.
“MIT is a pioneer in this field of computer-generated models,” Vasu said. “They are the main people doing it in this country. I’m happy to be partnering with them. The shock tube experiments in my lab will provide data to calibrate their models and hopefully accelerate the process of finding the best fuel options among a sea of hundreds.”
Vasu will also work on the UCF-led team.
UCF researcher Richard Blair, who is also a member of CATER and UCF’s Cluster for the Rational Design of Catalysts for Energy Applications and Propulsion, is providing his expertise in chemical and physical characterization of fuels to the project. Blair’s work will provide new insight into the temperature-dependent properties of gasoline-equivalent fuels.
“We have seen that bio-derived fuels can have compositional differences that add challenges to realizing a drop-in fuel,” Blair said.
Ahmed said the development of this technology is critical not just for science’s sake, but for the nation’s security and economic future.
“Gasoline and diesel-fuel combustion is the dominant source of automotive power generation,” he said. “There is a broad desire to develop alternative fuels and blended fuels for automotive combustion for the foreseeable future. The depleting availability of fuels has had a destabilizing influence on the economic security of the nation, while emission of carbon dioxide from combustion continues to impact the environment. In this context, there is a critical need to explore and implement these alternative biofuels in combustion systems that have high conversion efficiencies and minimized environmental impact.”
