NOVEL GUIDANCE FOR MEDICAL DEVICES

VIBRONAV - vibroacoustic device navigation research-initiative of the AGH University, Krakow, Poland (Prof. Michael Friebe, PhD) and JLU, Giessen, Germany (Prof. Gabriele Krombach, MD)

MTP / MISSION / VISION

"The goal is not to just DIGITIZE, but to create better MEDICINE."

"Joint and interdisciplinary research between clinicians and engineers with a clear purpose is the key to translation."

MASSIVE TRANSFORMATIVE PURPOSE:

Error-free medicine

MISSION:

Integrate novel sensing

VISION:

vibroacoustic tissue device information as a base for improved guidance

WHAT IS VIBRONAV

OPUS LAP -- German DFG / Polish NCN joint research

Engineering / Sensor / AI expertise from AGH University of Science and Technology and Clinical Expertise, Workflow optimisation, UX design from JLU - Justus Liebig University

01.2023 - 02.2026

Total research budget - approx. € 700.000

Goal: Develop an advanced audio-enabled support system and technique for needle guidance in vascular punctures as a preparation or start of interventional radiological procedures (catheters). Novel audio sensors and advanced signal analysis techniques will be combined to extract and characterize clinically relevant features within a vibroacoustic sensing setup.

TIMELINE

Finish research proposal by Dec. 15 2021 - DONE

First student thesis projects Winter Semester 2022 - SEARCH FOR CANDIDATES - DONE

First PhD Student hired January 2023, Team Building, ... - DONE

Office and Lab Space identified and equipped - March 2023 - DONE (Building D2 Room 212 - really nice - we may need to move in September 2024 though)

First Conference Paper submitted - JANUARY 2023 — CARS CONFERENCE IN MUNICH - DONE plus a Conference paper to BMT

Setup lab research - DONE

First peer reviewed research journal papers published Q1 2023 - DONE

5 conference and Journal papers published by Q1 2025 - DONE (total of 12 as of Q2 2025)

Setup with Robotic Arm (Ultrasound) and Audio Sensing completed - works in progress as of Q2 2025

Novel concept for Audio Tissue Signal evaluation for interventional therapy application - works in progress as of Q2 2025

Unexpected Research Results discovered
- SUCCESS!! - Temperature Measurment with Vibroacoustics is possible - see reference 11 below

Succesful follow-up project filed and granted - DONE starts Q4 2025 till Q4 2027 - VIBRONAV INDUSTRY (ZIM + INNOGLOBO with University of Giessen, MEDSUN s.p.o.z.z., and ATLAS Technologies
- DONE

PUBLICATIONS

(1) Heryan, K., Serwatka, W., Sorysz, J., Fuentealba, P., Rzepka D., Friebe, M. Tissue Classification Using Data from Vibroacoustic Signals Produced from Needle-Tissue Interaction. 2023 IEEE EMBS Special Topic Conference on Data Science and Engineering in Healthcare, Medicine and Biology, Malta, 2023, pp. 185-186, doi: 10.1109/IEEECONF58974.2023.10405328

(2) Cholewa, N., Serwatka, W., Sorysz, J., Heryan, K., Krombach, G., Friebe, M. Framework for Exploratory Analysis of Vibroacoustic Signals Resulting from Needle-Tissue Interaction - setup for data acquisition. 2023 IEEE EMBS Special Topic Conference on Data Science and Engineering in Healthcare, Medicine and Biology, Malta, 2023, pp. 17-18, doi: 10.1109/IEEECONF58974.2023.10405256

(3) Spiller, M., Esmaeili, N., Sühn, T., Boese, A., Friebe, M., Turial, S., Illanes, A. Towards AI-driven minimally invasive needle interventions. Current Directions in Biomedical Engineering, vol. 9, no. 1, 2023, pp. 559-562. doi: 10.1515/cdbme-2023-1140

(4) Serwatka, W., Heryan, K., Sorysz, J., Illanes, A., Boese, A., Krombach, G., Friebe, M. Audio-based tissue classification - preliminary investigation for a needle procedure. Current Directions in Biomedical Engineering, vol. 9, no. 1, 2023, pp. 347-350. doi: 10.1515/cdbme-2023-1087

(5) Friebe, M., Illanes, A. Advancements in Medical Imaging and Image-Guided Procedures: A Potential—Or Rather Likely—Paradigm Shift in Diagnosis and Therapy: Understand Disruption and Take Advantage of It! Applied Sciences 13, no. 16: 9218. doi: 10.3390/app13169218

(6) Sühn, T., Esmaeili, N., Spiller, M., Costa, M., Boese, A., Bertrand, J., Pandey, A., Lohmann, C., Friebe, M., Illanes, A. Vibro-acoustic sensing of tissue-instrument-interactions allows a differentiation of biological tissue in computerized palpation. Comput. Biol. Med. 2023, 164, 107272, doi: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2023.107272

(7) Sühn, T., Esmaeili, N., Mattepu, S., Spiller, M., Boese, A., Urruti, R., Poblete, V., Hansen, C., Lohmann, C., Illanes, A., Friebe, M. Vibro-Acoustic Sensing of Instrument Interactions as a Potential Source of Texture-Related Information in Robotic Palpation. Sensors. 2023; 23(6):3141, doi: 10.3390/s23063141

(8) Serwatka, W., Rzepka, D., Oran, H., Steeg, K., Krombach, G., Stefanski, J., Heryan, K. & Friebe, M. (2024). Tissue Puncture Event Detection in Needle Procedures using Vibroacoustic Signals - ResNet optimised Phantom Results. Current Directions in Biomedical Engineering, 10(4), 579-582. https://doi.org/10.1515/cdbme-2024-2142

(9) Spiller, M., Esmaeili, N., Sühn, T., Boese, A., Turial, S., Gumbs, A. A., Croner, R., Friebe, M., & Illanes, A. (2024). Enhancing Veress Needle Entry with Proximal Vibroacoustic Sensing for Automatic Identification of Peritoneum Puncture. Diagnostics, 14(15), 1698. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics14151698

(10) Steeg, K., Krombach, G. A., & Friebe, M. H. (2025). A Review of Needle Navigation Technologies in Minimally Invasive Cardiovascular Surgeries—Toward a More Effective and Easy-to-Apply Process. Diagnostics, 15(2), 197. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics15020197

(11) Friebe, M., Serwatka, W., Steeg, K. et al. Initial findings creating a temperature prediction model using vibroacoustic signals originating from tissue needle interactions. Sci Rep 15, 7393 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-92202-6

(12) Heryan, K., Sorysz, J., Friebe, M. Tissue Individual Signatures through Machine Learning Analysis of Ultrasound Images. IEEE EMBC 2025, Conference Proceedings (contribution 1762)

(13) Oran, H., Berke, O., Rzepka, D., Stefanski, J., Rybak, S., Kos, A., Steeg, K., Heryan, K., Friebe, M. Development of a Test Environment for the Validation of needle mounted Vibroacoustic Sensors. IEEE EMBC 2025, Conference Proceedings (contribution 2646)

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(14) Friebe, M. Towards Autonomous Robotic-Assisted Interventions: The Value of Proximally Placed Audio Sensors for Surface and Event Characterisation. In: Karcz, K., Nawrat, Z., Gumbs, A.A. (eds) Artificial Intelligence and the Perspective of Autonomous Surgery. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-68574-3_4

(15) Friebe, M., Esmaeili, N., Spiller, M., Sühn, T., Boese A., Illanes, A. Surgical Audio Guidance: Enhancing Surgery and Surgical Data Exploitation Through Proximal Vibro-acoustic Sensing of Tool-Tissue Interactions. 2023 IEEE EMBS Special Topic Conference on Data Science and Engineering in Healthcare, Medicine and Biology, Malta, 2023, pp. 179-180, doi: 10.1109/IEEECONF58974.2023.10404852.

(16) Steeg, K., Serwatka, W., Rzepka, D., Oran, H., Özdil, O.B., Heryan, K., Krombach G.A., Friebe, M.H. Vibroacoustic Signatures: Proof of Concept for simple Material Characterization during Needle Interventions. International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery. SPRINGER NATURE IJCARS 2025, doi: 10.1007/s11548-025-03492-0.

(17) Heryan, K., Serwatka, W., Rzepka, D., Fuentealba, P., Friebe, M. Exploratory Analysis and Framework for Tissue Classification Based on Vibroacoustic Signals from Needle-Tissue Interaction. SPRINGER NATURE IJCARS 2025, accepted

(18) Friebe, M. Palpation Sense for Robotic Surgery - Need Statement, current Technical Solutions, and ongoing Future Research - an Engineers Perspective. TechRxiv. July 26, 2025. DOI: 10.36227/techrxiv.175356344.49467544/v1

(19) Heryan, K., Serwatka, W., Rzepka, D. et al. Exploratory analysis and framework for tissue classification based on vibroacoustic signals from needle–tissue interaction. Int J CARS (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11548-025-03491-1

(20) Steeg, K., Illanes, I., Scherberich, J. et al. Experimental Framework for in vivo Vibroacoustic Needle Insertion Ground Truth. In "Abstracts of the 2025 Joint Annual Conference of the Austrian (ÖGBMT), German (VDE DGBMT) and Swiss (SSBE) Societies for Biomedical Engineering" Biomedical Engineering / Biomedizinische Technik, vol. 70, no. s1, 2025, abstract 081, pp. 141. https://doi.org/10.1515/bmt-2025-1001

(21) Strama, K., Steeg, K., Rzepka, D., Kos, A., Krombach, G., Heryan, K., Friebe, M. Image Segmentation for Automatic Needle Puncture Annotation in Vibroacoustic Signals. In "Abstracts of the 2025 Joint Annual Conference of the Austrian (ÖGBMT), German (VDE DGBMT) and Swiss (SSBE) Societies for Biomedical Engineering" Biomedical Engineering / Biomedizinische Technik, vol. 70, no. s1, 2025, abstract 101, pp. 188. https://doi.org/10.1515/bmt-2025-1001