Surgical Sciences & Allied Technologies

Surgical Sciences benefit from the contribution of multiple disciplines, aiming to improve the clinical outcomes of surgical procedures. Over the XXth and XXIst centuries, we witnessed a boost in innovative surgical achievements resulting from contributions from biological sciences (e.g., better knowledge of human anatomy, deeper knowledge of mechanisms of disease, and developments in pharmacology in analgesics and antibiotics, etc.) and engineering (with expertise covering fields such as mechanics, electronics, robotics, and bioengineering). These fields have also contributed significantly to developing surgical platforms, technologies, and components to treat numerous pathologies, including in hard-to-reach areas in a minimally invasive way (e.g., the abdominal and thoracic cavities, etc.). In the upcoming years, the progress appears to demand minimization, routinization, professionalization, and better awareness of clinical outcomes.

Following this trend, Surgical Sciences & Allied Technologies (SS&AT) at ICVS aims to perform translational biomedical research that contributes to the development and/or improvement of surgical or targeted therapies. SS&AT ambition is to hub a premier educational/training center providing high-quality education in surgical sciences at the level of undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students.

The SS&AT research team brings together MDs, Engineers, Biological & Data Science Scientists to accomplish these objectives. These researchers use three types of research labs (Surgical Endoscopic Lab – Technology Lab – Molecular & Biology Lab), distributed by the School of Medicine Cluster (ICVS – 2CA/Hospital de Braga – B.ACIS).

We welcome challenges that trigger the team’s curiosity for solving new problems coming from the clinics, promoting a continuous ‘go and from’ between Labs and Clinics. We are determined to build trust-based relationships and establish win-win partnerships that can create the feeling of passion and proudness at work.

Team Members

Projects

Estevão Lima

Development of novel devices and instruments for navigation and image-guided surgery

This project aims to develop endoscopic, robotic and artificially intelligent surgical instruments that facilitate the performance of minimally invasive surgery. We are creating new surgical navigation systems using artificial intelligence…

Cristina Nogueira-Silva

Development of a biosensor for fetal well-being monitoring (Biosensor4Fetus)

Despite all the technologic developments that have already been seen in last decades in medical care, fetal well-being monitoring remains a challenge to solve. The main aim of this work is to construct an innovative electrochemical (bio)sensor for the monitoring…

Rute S Moura

Modelling the chicken embryo to studying early lung development

Embryos exposed to insults during the first trimester have a higher risk of developing congenital anomalies since this gestational period is characterized by organogenesis-related events. The chicken embryo is an excellent model to study the impact of specific drugs…

Luís Lopes

CAD system for automated colorectal polyp detection and characterisation (ColonCAD)

The ColonCAD project aims to develop an intelligent technological platform for the detection and classification of early signs of colon polyps, through the analysis and classification of images taken in real time during a colonoscopy.

Sandro Queirós

Automating analysis and training in Focused Cardiac Ultrasound (AutoFoCUS)

Focused cardiac ultrasound (FoCUS) refers to the use of ultrasound imaging to evaluate cardiac structure and function at the bedside by a treating physician. In recent years, FoCUS has become an indispensable first-line diagnostic tool, complementing…

Success Story

The SS&AT team has always sought to conduct research to respond to the necessity for innovation and the valorization of knowledge in the health field, with a particular emphasis on translation research to apply the discoveries in the “real world”. We thus always seek the support and collaboration of healthcare companies.

This story started in 2005 when researchers from our team began to test new surgical approaches in an animal model to make surgery less invasive and without any scars. As a result of the scientific work performed, we described the transvesical access to perform abdominal and thoracic surgical procedures and the combination of the transvesical and transgastric ports to perform nephrectomy and cholecystectomy.

After the first publications in the most relevant international journals in the surgery field, a leading global supplier of endoscopes, endoscopic instruments, and devices (KARL STORZ SE & Co. KG.) got interested and started a collaboration with our Institute. Subsequently, in 2010, the company sponsored creating one of the largest research & training endoscopic centers in Europe, boosting our research in surgical sciences and creating unique conditions to launch a robust training program in surgery with hands-on courses for several surgical specialties.

More recently, we developed a new technology intending to facilitate the treatment of large kidney stones that require a surgical procedure with the percutaneous puncture of the kidney. This surgical step is of great difficulty both in terms of technical performance and risk of potential complications. To simplify the surgical intervention, a novel kidney navigation system for kidney puncture was developed in collaboration with the Applied Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (2Ai). The patent of this technology was sold to the same company in 2020, rocketing the fruitful collaboration between our Team and Industry. On top of the patent selling, our team obtained a specific grant to open research Ph.D. fellowships on surgical navigation and robotization.

Selected Research Outputs

Recent and most relevant publication on Surgical Education

Characterization of technical skill progress in a standardized rabbit model for training in laparoscopic duodenal atresia repair. Etlinger P, Barroso C, Miranda A, Pinto JM, Lamas-Pinheiro R, Ferreira H, Leão P, Kovács T, Juhász L, Szabó LS, Farkas A, Vajda P, Kálmán A, Géczi T, Simonka Z, Cserni T, Nógrády M, Fodor GH, Szabó A, Correia-Pinto J. Surgical Endoscopy, 2022, 36:2456-2465. DOI: 10.1007/s00464-021-08530-x.

Multidisciplinary minimally invasive surgery training program

according to our mission on education and training, our team has a strong commitment towards implementing training and postgraduate courses. During the last decade, the team has implemented an international hands-on training program in minimally invasive surgery, including over a dozen courses per year, providing training in minimally invasive surgery to over 500 medical doctors/year of various specialties (pediatric surgery, orthopedics, urology, gynecology, anesthesiology, general surgery, gastroenterology).