ThermalX is a research project of the University of Verona co-financed by RoboIt

A novel insight in the operating room 

Surgical procedures involve the use of thermal ablation techniques through the use of electrosurgical units, which can lead to an uncontrolled diffusion of energy towards tissues adjacent to the target area. In fact, temperatures above 60 ° C lead to cell death and, consequently, irreversible tissue damage that can extend, for example, to the surrounding nervous structures with consequent partial or total functional losses. Currently, the ability to monitor the actual extent of thermal damage in real time does not exist in the operating room and, therefore, the surgeon is left without any feedback that would allow him to take preventive actions.

ThermalX is developing an advanced Visual and Thermal 3D Endoscope. A minimally invasive laparoscopic endoscope that uses advanced optical technologies to extract 3D and stereoscopic thermographic information. The use of the endoscope developed by ThermalX can lead to

• A reduction in post-operative complications by allowing real-time analysis of the impact of thermal ablation tools on organic tissues.
• Avoid irreversible damage.
• Real time quantitative temperature monitoring

Innovation of the surgical endoscopes

The innovation brought by ThermalX concerns the patented thermo-stereoscopic endoscopy, which combines at the hardware level a thermal sensor with a pair of stereoscopic cameras, and the software necessary to superimpose the visible and thermal 3D images in a single time-variant vision that allows real-time analysis of thermal diffusion to organic tissues during laparascopic surgery. 

The ThermalX Team: Giacomo de Rossi, Claudia Daffara, Dumitru Scutelic, Salvatore Siracusano, Riccardo Muradore and Nicola Piccinelli.