Hao Su


Contact Information

I am a PhD candidate working on MRI-compatible robotics and image-guided surgery. I am currently involved in developing fiber optic force sensing and teleoperation of Piezoelectric Driven Needle Placement Robot for Prostate Interventions and two side projects on MRI-guided robotic neurosurgery and Humanoid Robot for Autism Interventions in Children.

I did three month intern at Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories in 2012 summer. I worked on prostate robot design and image analysis at Surgical Planning Laboratory of Harvard Medical School and Brigham & Women's Hospital in 2010 summer. I studied robotics ( mobile manipulation) with Professor Venkat Krovi at State University of New York Buffalo. I obtained B.S. degree in Control Science and Engineering from Harbin Institute of Technology, China in 2006.

News

  • [02/04/2012] Hao presented work "A Networked Modular Hardware and Software System for MRI-guided Robotic Prostate Interventions" at SPIE Medical Imaging in San Diego, CA.
  • [11/10/2011] Hao received $7,800 Dr. Richard J. Schlesinger Award from American Society for Quality: "Quantification of Robot-Assisted Needle Placement for MRI-guided Transperineal Prostate Interventions"

    • Research Interests

    Current Projects

    Piezoelectrically Actuated MRI Robot for Transperineal Prostate Diagnosis and Treatment

    MRI prostate robot Parallel small.JPG

    Prostate cancer is the most common male cancer and the second most common type of cancer. MRI is an ideal guidance modality with the ability to perform high quality, volumetric, real-time, multi-parametric imaging with high soft tissue contrast without ionizing radiation. The objective of this project is to develop highly sensitive and accurate image-guided interventional robotic system, which can be readily integrated to clinical work-flow, for targeted core biopsy as well as focal delivery of therapeutics to locally advanced tumor sites within the prostate.

    I have developed three versions of MRI-compatible piezoelectric actuated robot for prostate biopsy with real-time in situ needle steering capability in 3T MRI. The 6-DOF robot consists of a modular 3-DOF needle driver with fiducial tracking frame and a 3-DOF actuated Cartesian stage. The needle driver provides needle cannula rotation and translation (2-DOF) and stylet translation (1-DOF).

    Development and Evaluation of MRI-Compatible Sensors

    FPI small.jpg

    Traditional sensors in robotics include force and positioning sensing. However, off-the-shelf sensors are not suitable for use in MRI due to the potential for image degradation, malfunction, or safety issues. We are evaluating and developing sensors to be used in the MR environment. The current focus is on optical techniques for force and position sensing that do not compromise image quality and will allow for haptic feedback during MRI-guided interventions.

    To re-gain the tactile feedback during needle insertion, we have developed two versions of fiber optic force sensors. The light intensity modulated force sensor can measure insertion force and bending moments. while the light phase modulated force sensor is a miniaturized sensor capable of detecting micro Newton level force variation. These devices will bridge the tactile gap often felt with a teleoperated system. The final goal is to design a teleoperated needle placement system that can plan the needle path and accurately align the needle with MRI guidance, while the fiber optic force sensor measures the insertion force and renders the tactile feedback.

    Integrated Hardware and Software for Surgical Robots

    IGTLink.jpg

    With increasing research on system integration for image-guided therapy (IGT), there has been a strong demand for standardized communication among devices and software to share data such as target positions, images and device status. We have worked on integration and development of components for OpenIGTLink, a standardized mechanism to connect software/hardware through the network for image-guided therapy (IGT) applications.

    Despite a substantial armamentarium of apparatuses and systems has been developed to assist surgical diagnosis and therapy for MRI-guided procedures over last decade, the unified method to develop high fidelity robotic systems in terms of accuracy, dynamic performance, size, robustness and modularity, to work inside close-bore MRI scanner still remains a challenge. In this work, we develop and evaluate an integrated modular hardware and software system to support the surgical workflow of intra-operative MRI. Specifically, the distinct apparatuses and methods include: 1) a robot controller system for precision closed loop control of piezoelectric motors, 2) a robot control interface software that connects the 3D Slicer navigation software and the robot controller to exchange robot commands and coordinates using the OpenIGTLink open network communication protocol, and 3) MRI scan plane alignment to the planned path and imaging of the needle as it is inserted into the target location.

    Humanoid Robot for Autism Interventions in Children

    Pabi small.jpg

    This project was initially conceptualized to design an novel neck mechanism for a humanoid robot, and later we decided to build a penguin humanoid robot to interact with Autistic children to aid diagnosis and even standardize the diagnosis procedure. Autism Spectrum Disorder impacts an ever increasing number of children. The disorder is marked by social functioning that is characterized by impairment in the use of nonverbal behaviors, failure to develop appropriate peer relationships and lack of social and emotional exchanges. Providing early intervention through the modality of play therapy has been effective in improving behavioral and social outcomes for children with autism. Interacting with humanoid robots that provide simple emotional response and interaction has been shown to improve the communication skills of autistic children. In particular, early intervention and continuous care provide signi?cantly better outcomes. Currently, there are no robots capable of meeting these requirements that are both low-cost and available to families of autistic children for inhome use. We are piloting the use of robotics as an improved diagnostic and early intervention tool for autistic children that is affordable, non-threatening, durable, and capable of interacting with an autistic child.

    Publications

    Book Chapters

    1. Fischer GS, Su H, Sensors, Actuators, and Robots for MRI-guided Surgery and Interventions (Ch. 8), ed. J. Desai, The Encyclopedia of Medical Robotics, Volume 3: Image-guided Surgical Procedures and Interventions, World Scientific, Vol 3, pp 201-231, Oct 2018. WorldSci
    2. Cole GA, Harrington K, Su H, Camilo A, Pilitsis JG, Fischer GS, Closed-Loop Actuated Surgical System Utilizing In-Situ Real-Time MRI Guidance, Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics - Experimental Robotics, eds. Khatib O, Kumar V, Sukhatme G, Springer-Verlag, Vol 79, pp 785-798, 2014. Springer, PDF
    3. Su H, Fischer GS, High-field MRI-Compatible Needle Placement Robots for Prostate Interventions: Pneumatic and Piezoelectric Approaches, eds. T. Gulrez and A. Hassanien, Advances in Robotics and Virtual Reality, Springer-Verlag, Intelligent Systems Reference Library, Vol 26, pp 3-32, 2012. Springer, PDF

    Theses

    1. Su H, PhD Dissertation, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Force Sensing and Teleoperation of Continuum Robot for MRI-Guided Surgery, Dec. 2012. WPI ETD Link
    2. Su H, Master's Thesis, Cooperative Control of Nonholonomic Wheeled Mobile Manipulator Collectives, M.S. Thesis, Dept. of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, SUNY at Buffalo, Sep. 2008. PDF

    Refereed Journal Publications

    1. Nycz CJ, Strobel HA, Suqui K, Grosha J, Fischer GS, Rolle M, A Method for High-Throughput Robotic Assembly of 3-Dimensional Vascular Tissue, Tissue Engineering Part A (TEA), January 2019. TEA, PubMed
    2. Su H, Shang W, Li G, Patek L, Fischer GS, An MRI-Guided Telesurgery System Using a Fabry-Perot Interferometry Force Sensor and a Pneumatic Haptic Device, Annals of Biomedical Engineering (ABME), April 2017. Springer, PubMed, PDF
    3. Su H, Iordachita I, Hata N, Liu X, Seifabadi R, Xu S, Wood B, Fischer GS, Fiber Optic Force Sensors for MRI-Guided Interventions and Rehabilitation: A Review, IEEE Sensors Journal, Vol 17, No 7, pp 1952-1963, Jan 2017. IEEE
    4. Su H, Li G, Rucker C, Webster III RJ, Fischer GS, A Concentric Tube Continuum Robot with Piezoelectric Actuation for MRI-Guided Closed-loop Targeting, Annals of Biomedical Engineering (ABME) - Journal of the Biomedical Engineering Society, Vol 44, No 10, pp 2863-2873, Oct 2016. Springer, PubMed
    5. Su H, Shang W, Cole GA, Li G, Harrington K, Camilo A, Tokuda J, Tempany CM, Hata N, Fischer GS, Piezoelectrically Actuated Robotic System for MRI-Guided Prostate Percutaneous Therapy, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, Vol 20, No 4, Aug 2015. IEEE, PDF
    6. Li G, Su H, Cole GA, Shang W, Harrington K, Camilo A, Pilitsis JG, Fischer GS, Robotic System for MRI-Guided Stereotactic Neurosurgery, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, Vol 64, No 4, pp 1088-1088, April 2015. IEEE, PDF
    7. Fu Y, Su H, Duan G, Robust Guaranteed Cost Filtering for Linear Uncertain Neutral Systems with Markovian Jumping Parameters, Journal of System Simulation, vol. 17, 2005

    Refereed Conference Proceedings

    1. Carvalho PA, Pamplona GS, Stampfli P, Ionta S, Fischer GS, Sulzer J, Gassert R, , Robot-Brain Interface: Controlling Brain Activity Patterns via Robotic Stimulation, Real-time Functional Neurofeedback Conference (rtFIN 2019), Maastricht, Netherlands, Dec 2019. rtFIN (In Press)
    2. Rashid T, Sultana S, Fischer GS, Pilitsis J, Audette MA, Deformable Multi-material 2-Simplex Surface Mesh for Intraoperative MRI-Ready Surgery Planning and Simulation, with Deep-Brain Stimulation Applications, Bio-Imaging and Visualization for Patient-Customized Simulations - BIVPCS 2017, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Vol 10549, Springer. Springer
    3. Shang W, Su H, Li G, Furlong C, Fischer GS , A Fabry-Perot Interferometry Based MRI-Compatible Miniature Uniaxial Force Sensor for Percutaneous Needle, IEEE SENSORS 2013, Baltimore, MD, Nov. 2013. IEEE, PDF
    4. Shang W, Su H, Li G, Fischer GS , Teleoperation System with Hybrid Pneumatic-Piezoelectric Actuation for MRI-Guided Needle Insertion with Haptic Feedback, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems - IROS 2013, Tokyo, Japan, Nov. 2013. IEEE, PDF
    5. Ji W, Matte JD, Li G, Ma Y, Su H, Shang W, Fischer GS, Reconfigurable Fiducial-Integrated Modular Needle Driver for MRI-Guided Percutaneous Interventions, Design of Medical Devices Conferences (DMD), Minneapolis, MN, April 2013. ASME, DMD
    6. Li G, Su H, Shang W, Tokuda J, Hata N, Tempany CM, Fischer GS, A Fully Actuated Robotic Assistant for MRI-Guided Prostate Biopsy and Brachytherapy, SPIE Medical Imaging (Image-Guided Procedures, Robotic Interventions, and Modeling Conference), Orlando, USA, Feb. 2013. PubMed, SPIE
    7. Ma Y, Dobrev I, Shang W, Su H, Janga S, Fischer GS, CHIC: Cylindrical Helix Imaging Coordinate Registration Fiducial for MRI-Guided Interventions, 34th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), San Diego, USA, Aug. 2012. PubMed, IEEE, PDF
    8. Su H, Cardona D, Shang W, Cole GA, Rucker C, Webster III R, Fischer GS, A MRI-Guided Concentric Tube Continuum Robot with Piezoelectric Actuation: A Feasibility Study, IEEE ICRA 2012 International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA, May 2012 (Best medical robotics paper finalist). IEEE, PDF
    9. Su H, Shang W, Harrington K, Camilo A, Cole GA, Tokuda J, Hata N, Tempany CM, Fischer GS, A Networked Modular Hardware and Software System for MRI-guided Robotic Prostate Interventions, SPIE Medical Imaging, San Diego, USA, Feb. 2012. SPIE, PDF
    10. Su H, Cole GA, Hata N, Tempany CM, Fischer GS, Real-time MRI-Guided Transperineal Needle Placement Prostate Interventions with Piezoelectrically Actuated Robotic Assistance, Radiological Society of North America 97th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, Chicago, USA, Nov. 2011. RSNA
    11. Fischer GS, Cole GA, Su H, Approaches to Creating and Controlling Motion in MRI, In Proceedings of the 33rd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), Boston, USA, Aug. 2011. (Invited Paper) IEEE, PubMed, PDF
    12. Su H, Iordachita I, Yan X, Cole GA, Fischer GS, Reconfigurable MRI-Guided Robotic Surgical Manipulator: Prostate Brachytherapy and Neurosurgery Applications, In Proceedings of the 33rd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), Boston, USA, Aug. 2011. PubMed, IEEE
    13. Dickstein-Fischer LA, Alexander E, Yan X, Su H, Fischer GS, An Affordable Compact Humanoid Robot for Autism Spectrum Disorder Interventions in Children, In Proceedings of the 33rd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), Boston, USA, Aug. 2011. PubMed, IEEE, PDF
    14. Su H, Zervas M, Cole GA, Furlong C, Fischer GS, Real-time MRI-Guided Needle Placement Robot with Integrated Fiber Optic Force Sensing, IEEE ICRA 2011 International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Shanghai, China, pp 1583-1588, May 2011. PDF, ICRA, BibTex, EndNote
    15. Su H, Zervas M, Furlong C, Fischer GS, A Miniature MRI-compatible Fiber-optic Force Sensor Utilizing Fabry-Perot Interferometer, SEM Annual Conference & Exposition on Experimental and Applied Mechanics, Uncasville, CT, USA, June 2011. SEM, PDF
    16. Su H, Camilo A, Cole GA, Tempany CM, Hata N, Fischer GS, High-Field MRI-Compatible Needle Placement Robot for Prostate Interventions, Proceedings of MMVR18 (Medicine Meets Virtual Reality), Newport Beach, California, USA, February, 2011, PDF
    17. H. Huang, H. Su, H. Chen, J. K. Mills, Piezoelectric Driven Non-toxic Injector for Automated Cell Manipulation, Proceedings of MMVR18 (Medicine Meets Virtual Reality), Newport Beach, California, USA, February, 2011. PDF
    18. Cole G, Harrington K, Su H, Camilo A, Pilitsis J, Fischer GS, Closed-Loop Actuated Surgical System Utilizing Real-Time In-Situ MRI Guidance, 12th International Symposium on Experimental Robotics - ISER 2010, New Delhi, India, December 2010. ISER BibTex EndNote
    19. Wang Y, Su H, Harrington K, Fischer GS, Sliding mode Control of Piezoelectric Valve Regulated Pneumatic Actuator for MRI-Compatible Robotic Intervention, ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Conference - DSCC 2010, Cambridge, Massachusetts, September 2010. PDF, BibTex, EndNote
    20. Su H, Dickstein-Fischer L, Harrington K, Fu Q, Lu W, Fischer GS, Cable-Driven Elastic Parallel Humanoid Head with Face Tracking for Autism Spectrum Disorder Interventions, Proceedings of the 32nd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), Buenos Aires, Argentina, September 2010.PDF, EMBC
    21. Su H, Shang W, Cole GA, Harrington K, Fischer GS, Haptic System Design for MRI-Guided Needle Based Prostate Brachytherapy, Haptics Symposium - Haptics 2010, Waltham, Massachusetts, March 2010. PDF
    22. Su H, Shang W, Cole GA, Harrington K, Fischer GS, Design of a Haptic Device for MRI-Guided Prostate Needle Brachytherapy, IEEE Haptics Symposium, Boston, USA, March 2010. PDF, BibTex, EndNote
    23. Su H, Fischer GS, A 3-Axis Optical Force/Torque Sensor for Prostate Needle Placement in Magnetic Resonance Imaging Environments, 2nd Annual IEEE International Conference on Technologies for Practical Robot Applications - TePRA 2009, Woburn, Massachusetts, November 2009. PDF, BibTex, EndNote
    24. Wang Y, Cole GA, Su H, Pilitis JG, Fischer GS, MRI Compatibility Evaluation of a Piezoelectric Actuator System for a Neural Interventional Robot, 31st Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society - EMBC 2009, Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 2009. PDF, EMBS, PubMed, BibTex, EndNote
    25. Su H, Krovi V, Decentralized Motion Control of Payload Transport by Nonholonomic Mobile Manipulators, ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Conference, Ann Arbor, USA, 2008. PDF

    Conference Abstracts, Workshops and Non Peer-Reviewed Papers

    1. Suqui K, Strobel H, Nycz C, Fischer GS, Rolle MW, Analysis of Structure and Strength of Tissue Rings Fabricated in Custom Machined Culture Wells, BMES 2016 Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, USA, Oct. 2016. BMES
    2. Fischer GS, Su H, Shang W, Li G, Hata N, Tempany C, Teleoperated Needle Placement for Real-time MRI-guided Prostate Interventions, 9th Interventional MRI Symposium (iMRI), Boston, MA, USA, Sept. 2012.
    3. Fischer GS, Shang W, Su H , Robot-Assisted Needle Alignment with Image-Guided Teleoperated Needle Insertion for Prostate Cancer Interventions, 20th Scientific Meeting and Exhibition of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine - ISMRM 2012, May 2012. PDF
    4. Swaney P, Burgner J, Cardona D, Su H, Pheiffer T, Rucker C, Lathop R, Gilbert H, Fischer GS, Miga M, Webster III R, Image-Guided Targeting of Concentric Tube Robots: Experiments using Ultrasound, Computed Tomography, and Magnetic Resonance Imaging, IEEE IROS IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Workshop on Image-Guided Medical Robotic Interventions, San Fransico, USA, Sept. 2011. PDF
    5. Su H, Yan X, Fischer GS, A 4-DOF Parallel Robotic Platform for MR Image-Guided Percutaneous Prostate Interventions, IEEE IROS IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Workshop on Image-Guided Medical Robotic Interventions, San Fransico, USA, Sept. 2011. PDF
    6. Su H, Iordachita I, Yan X, Fischer GS, Reconfigurable MRI-Guided Robotic Surgical Manipulator: Prostate Brachytherapy and Neurosurgery Applications, 7th Annual New England Manipulation Symposium (NEMS), Yale University, CT, USA, May 20, 2011
    7. Fischer GS, Su H, Piezoelectrically Actuated MRI-Compatible Needle Placement Robot for Transperineal Prostate Interventions, 7th Annual New England Manipulation Symposium (NEMS), Yale University, CT, USA, May 20, 2011.
    8. Su H, Fischer GS, Active Needle Steering System for Percutaneous Prostate Intervention in High-field MRI, Robotics Science and Systems, Workshop on Enabling Technologies for Image-Guided Interventional Procedures, June 2010. PDF
    9. Su H, Harrington K, Cole GA, Wang Y, Fischer GS, Modular Needle Steering Driver for MRI-guided Transperineal Prostate Intervention, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Workshop on Snakes, Worms and Catheters: Continuum and Serpentine Robots for Minimally Invasive Surgery, Anchorage, AK, May 2010. BU, PDF
    10. Su H, Harrington K, Cole GA, Fischer GS, Active Needle Steering for Percutaneous Prostate Intervention in High-field MRI, 2010 Robotics: Science and Systems Conference, Workshop on Enabling Technologies for Image-Guided Robotic Interventional Procedures, Zaragoza, Spain, 2010. PDF

    Patent Applications

    1. Fischer G and Su H, "Apparatus and Methods for MRI Compatible Haptic Interfaces" (US full utility patent filed November 2010)
    2. Fischer G, Su H, Dickstein-Fischer L, Harrington K, and Alexander E, "System and Method for Autism Spectrum Disorder Interventions" (US provisional patent filed August 29 2011)

    Review and Robotics Society Service

    1. Editor of Journal of Autism-Open Access
    2. Chair of Surgical Robotics session at IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Conference (EMBC 2011)
    3. Committee member of 4th Annual IEEE International Conference on Technologies for Practical Robot Applications (TePRA)
    4. Reviewer, Journal of Robotics and Computer Integrated Manufacturing
    5. Reviewer, International Journal of Robotics and Automation
    6. Reviewer, Medical Engineering & Physics
    7. Reviewer,ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control
    8. Reviewer,Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems
    9. Reviewer, International Journal of Medical Robotics and Computer Assisted Surgery
    10. Reviewer, IEEE Transactions on Robotics
    11. Reviewer, ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control
    12. Reviewer, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics
    13. Reviewer, Measurement Science and Technology (Institute of Physics)
    14. Reviewer, Robotica
    15. Reviewer, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering
    16. Reviewer, Robotics: Science and Systems Conference
    17. Reviewer, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)
    18. Reviewer, ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Conference (DSCC)
    19. Reviewer, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent RObots and Systems (IROS)
    20. Reviewer, International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC)
    21. Reviewer, Haptics Symposium

    Awards and Honors

    Student Supervision

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    Lab Members