FetoView Microendoscope System for Fetal Visualization and Surgical Planning

Medicine has advanced to the point where life-saving surgery can be performed on a fetus either inside, or temporarily removed from, then returned to the uterus to complete development. Surgical planning is currently performed based on ultrasound and MRI images of the pregnant mother, which may lack sufficient resolution for detailed assessment and planning. Optical endoscopes have become small enough that they could be placed through an amniocentesis needle into the uterus, and steered to visualize the fetus in much better detail.
The goal of this project is to develop miniature endoscopes based on "chip on tip" technology and optical fiber bundles, that are steerable and which include image stitching to improve resolution and enlarge image field of view. A team of Biomedical Engineering and Obstetrics/Gynecology faculty will guide the students in creating, building, and testing (on simulators) the endoscopes.