MINDS CDT, 2023
Doctoral Researcher, University of Southampton
Jack Hilton-Jones is a doctoral researcher working on robotic systems for minimally invasive medicine, with a focus on magnetic continuum robots: flexible devices that can be steered through the body’s blood vessels using a magnetic field from an external robotic arm.
These devices have real clinical potential, particularly for mechanical thrombectomy, the procedure used to remove a blood clot from the brain after a stroke. The procedure is time-critical, requires highly trained specialists, and is not available in every hospital. A more autonomous and predictable robotic system could help make it safer, faster and more accessible.
The challenge Jack’s research addresses is one of control. These robots are highly flexible, and their shape changes as they move through the vessel network, making precise navigation difficult to guarantee. His work investigates predictive control methods that model how the robot will behave in the body, allowing it to anticipate and avoid unsafe interactions before they occur, rather than reacting after the fact.
The longer-term aim is a class of robotic systems that can assist surgeons in complex vascular procedures with greater consistency and confidence than current tools allow.
Jack is due to graduate in 2027.