Colorectal cancer (CRC) represents a significant proportion of malignant diseases. Interventions are often carried out during the latter stages of development, leading to low patient survival rates and poor quality of life. In 2022 a European Commission report stated that “colonoscopy-based screening has higher sensitivity than testing for blood in stool, but it is less acceptable to participants”. At the same time, effective methods to treat polyps in the colon are limited. Current approaches are often associated with unsafe oncological margins and high complication rates, requiring life-changing surgery.
EndoTheranostics will usher in a new era for screening and treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC) through the development of a soft tip-growing or eversion robot with a sleeve-like structure. The robot will be able to extend deep into the colon while perceiving the environment through multimodal imaging and sensing. It will also act as a conduit to transfer miniaturized instruments to the remote site within the colon for diagnosis and therapy (theranostics).
With these capabilities, the system will be able to offer:
• Painless bowel cleansing in preparation for colonoscopy
• Real-time polyp detection and tissue characterization through AI-assisted multimodal imaging
• Effective removal of polyps by conveying a miniature mobile operating chamber equipped with microsurgical tools to the target through the lumen of the eversion robot
• Shared control of the eversion robot and microsurgical tools for supervised autonomous polyp excision with safe oncological margins
“Securing this prestigious ERC Synergy Grant reflects the scientific excellence King’s brings to research programmes at an international level. My warmest congratulations to everyone in the winning team and I encourage colleagues to consider this success as all the more reason to apply to European funding, given the recent fantastic news of the UK associating with Horizon Europe.”
Bashir M. Al- Hashimi
Vice President (Research & Innovation), King’s College London
Colorectal cancer (CRC) represents a significant proportion of malignant diseases. Interventions are often carried out during the latter stages of development, leading to low patient survival rates and poor quality of life. In 2022 a European Commission report stated that “colonoscopy-based screening has higher sensitivity than testing for blood in stool, but it is less acceptable to participants”. At the same time, effective methods to treat polyps in the colon are limited. Current approaches are often associated with unsafe oncological margins and high complication rates, requiring life-changing surgery.
EndoTheranostics will usher in a new era for screening and treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC) through the development of a soft tip-growing or eversion robot with a sleeve-like structure. The robot will be able to extend deep into the colon while perceiving the environment through multimodal imaging and sensing. It will also act as a conduit to transfer miniaturized instruments to the remote site within the colon for diagnosis and therapy (theranostics).
With these capabilities, the system will be able to offer:
• Painless bowel cleansing in preparation for colonoscopy
• Real-time polyp detection and tissue characterization through AI-assisted multimodal imaging
• Effective removal of polyps by conveying a miniature mobile operating chamber equipped with microsurgical tools to the target through the lumen of the eversion robot
• Shared control of the eversion robot and microsurgical tools for supervised autonomous polyp excision with safe oncological margins
“Securing this prestigious ERC Synergy Grant reflects the scientific excellence King’s brings to research programmes at an international level. My warmest congratulations to everyone in the winning team and I encourage colleagues to consider this success as all the more reason to apply to European funding, given the recent fantastic news of the UK associating with Horizon Europe.”
Bashir M. Al- Hashimi
Vice President (Research & Innovation), King’s College London
