Thesis : Design of concentric tube robots and application to the olfactory cells inspection

PhD defense : Cédric GIRERD

Team : AVR

Title : Design of concentric tube robots and application to the olfactory cells inspection

Abstract : This thesis is part of the ANR NEMRO national project, whose goal is to study the correlation between the olfactory deficiency and neurodegenerative diseases. The work presented introduces a robotic device which holds an OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography) probe, to inspect and take 3D images of the olfactory cells. To cover this need, an innovative robotic architecture, based on thin nested tubes, and called concentric tube robot, is selected for its compact tubular structure, convenient for usage with a fiber-based imaging probe.
The design of such robot from medical images of the nasal cavity is addressed. It takes inter-subject variability into account, to offer a single device for the targeted population. It also integrates the instable behavior of these robots to produce a safe medical device. The deployment proposed for the robot is called a follow-the-leader deployment, which allows to limit the volume swept by the robot during the inspection, and to ease the detection of potential contacts, forbidden between the robot and the nasal cavity. Finally, a design methodology is proposed for an actuation mechanism, directly attached to the head of the subject, and able to manipulate the tubes. As it is held by the subject, it has to be lightweight and compact.  Our proposition takes advantage of multimaterial additive manufacturing to meet to previous requirements. The elementary functions of the actuation mechanism are assessed, and are encouraging for the design of a demonstrator.

The thesis is supervised by Pierre Renaud, professor (ICube - INSA de Strasbourg) et co-supervised by Kanty Rabenorosoa, associate professor (FEMTO-ST - ENSMM).

The committee is composed of two reviewers Jérôme Szewczyk, professor (ISIR – Pierre and Marie Curie University), Etienne Dombre, CNRS research director, emeritus (LIRMM), an examiner Jocelyne Troccaz, CNRS research director (TIMC-IMAG) and of three invited persons, Brahim Tamadazte, CNRS researcher (FEMTO-ST), Laurent Tavernier, Professor, hospital practitioner (CHU of Besançon) and Luc Marlier, CNRS researcher (ICube).

The defense will be held in French and will take place on Tuesday January 30th, 2018, at 2:00 pm in the Hirsch amphitheater at IRCAD Strasbourg.