Canadian Surgical Technologies and Advanced Robotics (CSTAR) 

Our team is dedicated to care through cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) and robotic innovations. We focus on creating advanced training environments, enhancing teleoperation techniques, and developing AI systems for tumour localization and skills assessment, all aimed at improving surgical precision and patient outcomes. Our research encompasses:  

• Designing, evaluating and validating novel sensor-based and AI-guided training environments for endoscopy; 

• Developing AI techniques for estimating tool-tissue interaction forces during teleoperation using the da Vinci® Surgical Robot used for minimally invasive surgery; 

• Creating AI architectures for robotics-assisted palpation and localization of tumours; 

• Advancing AI-based skills assessment and training for minimally invasive surgery; 

• Innovating robotic technologies and machine learning for robotics-assisted control for catheter-based cardiac ablation; and 

• Developing image-guided, hand-held, continuum robotic technology for percutaneous interventions. 

Our team is committed to advancing medical knowledge and improving patient outcomes through a diverse range of research in surgical innovation and cardiovascular care. We focus on evaluating robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery in urology, exploring biomaterials for the urinary tract, and conducting critical trials to assess treatment options for heart failure and coronary revascularization, among other vital initiatives. 

Major research activities 

Our focus in robotics-assisted surgery includes: 

• Reviewing surgical outcomes of robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery in urology; 

• Investigating the use of biomaterials in the urinary tract; 

• Conducting the Freedom Trial, a multi-centre study comparing percutaneous coronary intervention to surgical coronary revascularization in diabetic patients; 

• Studying provoked ischemia revascularization before implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) therapy in the SPIRIT (Study of Provoked Ischemia Revascularization before ICD Therapy) trial; and 

• Assessing the safety and effectiveness of laparoscopic hepatectomy.