As Arizona State Unviversity continues to shine in U.S. patent rankings, robotics and synthetic intelligence garner a rising proportion of such applied sciences.
Two college members among the many leaders in patent acquisition are “YZ” Yezhou Yang, an affiliate professor in Arizona State University’s School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, and Hamid Marvi, an affiliate professor within the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy. Their work is centered on the growing intersection of AI and robotics.
“Robots don’t have to look like robots,” Yang stated. “A robot is a combination of intelligent, AI decision-making together with novel mechanical design — and it doesn’t have to look humanoid. My research serves as the brain and eyes driving many robotic devices. Hamid’s research couples that with their muscles and physical presence.”
Key insights for visitors security, figuring out ‘pretend’ photographs
Yang’s Active Perception Group lab explores visible notion — a area of AI that analyzes photographs and movies to acknowledge objects, perceive the relationships between these objects and the surroundings, and learn the way to make selections based mostly on that enter. Applications embrace creating security instruments for autonomous applied sciences and medical help applied sciences, creating AI-generated photographs and recognizing AI-generated, or pretend, photographs.
One of Yang’s present tasks, in partnership with the Maricopa County Department of Transportation and the Arizona Commerce Authority’s Institute of Advanced Mobility (IAM), is creating an clever visitors monitoring system that sends notifications about pending accidents. He serves because the lead technologist on IAM’s Automated Traffic Incident, Reconstruction, Indexing and Reporting project.
Using his patented Car-On-Map (CAROM) framework and sensing techniques like lidar, satellite tv for pc picture mapping and intersection video, the system can determine potential accidents upfront and ship warnings to automobiles, pedestrian and driver cellphones within the space, in addition to regulation enforcement and emergency response organizations.
“Vehicles are progressing toward being more intelligent and connected to the internet. Ultimately, any vehicle, whether fully autonomous or not, will be able to receive these alerts.” Yang stated.
A pilot program is being applied at a busy intersection within the Phoenix metro space.
“At the moment, I believe that intersection is the most well-equipped with safety tools in the nation,” Yang stated. “It’s using many advanced technologies with a goal of developing an alert communication system that can prevent accidents.
Another of Yang’s projects involves the identification of “fake” photographs.
“There are all kinds of images that are AI-generated,” Yang stated. “We have come up with a system to determine which images are real photos and which have been generated or modified using AI.”
The system examines a picture “pixel by pixel” to determine anomalies and decide if it has been wholly invented or partially doctored.
“In some cases, we may even be able to determine the user ID of who created the image,” Yang stated.
He anticipates the expertise might be of nice worth to media retailers, enabling them to confirm whether or not photographs are actual or pretend.
“If consumers know that images have been authenticated, it will support the trustworthiness of participating media.”
Minimizing the necessity for invasive surgical procedure
One area of Marvi’s analysis at the Bio-Inspired Robotics Technology and Healthcare (BIRTH) lab is minimally invasive medical robotics, which has accelerated its reliance on AI for therapy deliveries, together with superior endoscopic techniques and magnetic steering gadgets.
In collaboration with a nationwide, medical-academic analysis heart, Marvi and his crew are creating a robotic endoscopic surgical procedure platform to deal with colorectal most cancers, offering endoscopists with a robotic “second hand” to help in performing endoscopic submucosal dissection.
“Currently, endoscopists rely on a single instrument — the endoscope — to visualize the tumor and manipulate the tissue that needs to be removed, and perform the removal,” he stated. “They work beneath the tissue with limited visibility and no ability to actively pull the tissue back. Just a few millimeters below lies the muscle layer that, if damaged, can lead to serious adverse side effects.”
Marvi’s mission includes deploying a magnetic clip endoscopically and, as soon as in place, utilizing a magnet outdoors the physique, operated by a robotic arm, to manipulate the tissue and facilitate the tumor elimination course of.
“Now the endoscopist has an additional hand,” Marvi stated. “The robotic arm manipulates the tissue, pulling it back, while the endoscopist is controlling the scope to view and remove the tumor. It is a much easier and safer process, and the procedure time is reduced by up to 50% in preclinical experiments.”
Although there’s a joystick part to the robotic arm, it may be directed by voice command from the surgeon.
“Endoscopists need both hands to operate the scope,” Marvi stated.
Not a lot time is required to be taught to function the robotic arm, in accordance to Marvi: “Even clinicians in training can quickly begin performing the procedure.”
The subsequent stage, for which Marvi has a pending proposal in collaboration with ASU Assistant Professor Wanxin Jin, is making the robotic arm autonomous, Marvi stated.
“The robot learns to adapt to the procedure autonomously and manipulates the tissue. As the endoscopist is cutting, the robotic system gently pulls back the tissue so the tumor can easily be removed. The robot will automatically detect if the endoscopist changes cutting direction and adapt,” Marvi stated.
The trials are preclinical and managed by the collaborating heart’s approval crew, so progress is transferring pretty swiftly.
The crew is finishing the ultimate model of the autonomous robotic arm earlier than transferring towards medical trials and formal Food and Drug Administration evaluate. They goal is to end growth throughout the subsequent 12 months, start preclinical testing in early 2027 and take the subsequent steps towards FDA approval quickly after.
Another breakthrough mission Marvi’s crew is creating — a much less invasive expertise for neurosurgical procedures — is in collaboration with Barrow Neurological Institute.
“Currently, doctors can only deliver electrodes, catheters or medications to the brain along straight paths. As a result, reaching multiple target areas often requires multiple separate and invasive entry points into the brain tissue,” Marvi stated.
Additionally, fluoroscopy, a steady X-ray beam, is used for placement and monitoring of implants, delivering publicity to each affected person and surgeon.
“Our project adds shape sensors inside the implant, which will enable us to do real-time, 3D sensing with no radiation,” Marvi stated. “We are doing a combination of mechanical feeding with magnetic steering inside the brain tissue to enable nonlinear implant steering.”
An adjoining mission with Barrow is endovascular robotic surgical procedure, targeted on eradicating blood clots from the mind, a process often called thrombectomy.
“When there is a stoke, there usually is a blood clot in the vascular system of the brain,” Marvi stated. “They need to remove the clot and re-vascularize, getting the blood flow back as soon as possible. Every minute counts.
“We are proposing a fully autonomous, robotic system that requires a technician to introduce the electrode to the appropriate femoral entry point and let the robotic system take over. It would steer to the clot remove it and return to the entry point, where the technician can remove it from the body.”
According to Marvi, there are about 300 facilities and about 1,100 surgeons throughout the U.S. able to doing a thrombectomy. As a outcome, solely 10% of stroke victims get acceptable therapy, which comes with unwanted side effects and a heavy burden on a well being care system that has a scarcity of surgeons, particularly in rural areas.
“This autonomous system is an example of how a stroke victim can go to a rural hospital, have a minimally invasive procedure, then go home and have an ice cream instead of spending days in the hospital, months of physical therapy and dealing with the aftereffects of the current stroke treatments,” Marvi stated.
“I’ve been observing surgical procedures associated by my analysis. It’s a life-changing expertise to see how troublesome, time-consuming and invasive some present procedures are.
“When I ponder the chances of how we will make the method quicker, simpler, safer and much less invasive, at a considerably diminished value on the well being care system, it’s mind-blowing. It’s what’s motivates me to pursue this path.”
For Marvi and Yang, as with most academic innovators, the rewards come from creating technologies that improve lives.
Supporting their ASU inventors’ success is Skysong Innovations, which works with ASU faculty members and partner institutions to convert scientific research into patented technologies that can be rapidly transferred into the marketplace. ASU secured 185 U.S. utility patents in calendar year 2025.