Center for Computer-Integrated Surgical Systems & Technology (CISST)

High School Student Research Leads to Innovative Tool

All the ERCs pursue programs designed to interest precollege students in science and engineering education and research. Occasionally these programs involve the participation of students in center research. But seldom do the activities lead to innovative new technology!

During 2001 and 2002, Al Brzeczko was a senior at the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute high school. Under the Ingenuity Project at Poly, a citywide public school program for academically gifted high school students, he found a mentor in Randy Golberg, a graduate student at the National Science Foundation-funded Engineering Research Center for Computer-Integrated Surgical Systems and Technology (ERC CISST), at Johns Hopkins University and began pursuing research in surgical robotics. Al's research progressed to the point that he began working with CISST Center Director Russell Taylor and Dr. Peter Evans, a CISST-affiliated surgeon, on development of an original device to assist in knee surgery.

The result was the Smart Alignment Tool for Knee Mosaicplasty. This device is a computer-assisted accessory to an existing surgical tool, a chisel used for punching out cartilage. The purpose of the Smart Alignment Tool is to keep the chisel aimed perpendicularly to the surgical site. It was a unique tool, the first of its kind. Al built a prototype and presented his results at the prestigious Medical Image Analysis and Computer Assisted Interventions (MICCAI) Conference in 2001.

In 2005, Al Brzeczko is completing his B.S. in computer engineering at Johns Hopkins, with an interest in robotics that was stimulated by his early research experience at CISST.

To learn more about this topic:
Visit the Center for Computer-Integrated Surgical Systems & Technology web site at http://cisstweb.cs.jhu.edu/about/CenterOverview/.

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Intelligent hand tool for computer-assisted knee
cartilage surgery.

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Last modified: February 17, 2005