Caleb Rucker

Associate Professor and B. Ray Thompson Professor

Biography

August 2023-Present
Associate Professor and B. Ray Thompson Professor, Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville TN

2019-2023
Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville TN

2013-2019
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville TN

2011-2013
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Biomedical Modeling Laboratory, Biomedical Engineering Department, Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN

2007-2011
Research Assistant, Medical and Electromechanical Design Laboratory, Mechanical Engineering Department, Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN

Research

• Robotics, Dynamics
• Solid Mechanics
• Medical Applications
• Computer-Aided Surgery

Education

Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Vanderbilt University

B.S., Engineering Mechanics and Mathematics, Lipscomb University

Professional Service

Member, IEEE

Awards and Recognitions

• MABE Outstanding Junior Faculty Award, 2015
• Best Medical Robotics Paper Finalist IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2012
• VUSE Best Student Paper Award, Vanderbilt School of Engineering, 2010

Publications

H. Su, G. Li, D. C. Rucker, R. J. Webster III, G. Fischer. A Concentric Tube Continuum Robot with Piezoelectric Actuation for MRI-Guided Closed-loop Targeting. Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 1-11, 2016.

H. B. Gilbert, D. C. Rucker, and R. J. Webster III. Concentric Tube Robots: The State of the Art and Future Directions. Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics. 19, 253-269, 2016.

A. Orekhov, C. Bryson, J. Till, S. Chung, and D. C. Rucker. Analysis and Validation of a Teleoperated Surgical Parallel Continuum Manipulator. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 1(2), 828-835, 2016.

J. Burgner-Kahrs, D. C. Rucker, H. Choset. Continuum Robots for Medical Applications: A Survey. IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 31(6), 1261-1280, 2015.

A. L. Simpson, K. Sun, T. S. Pheiffer, D. C. Rucker, A. K. Sills, R. C. Thompson, M. I. Miga.  Evaluation of Conoscopic Holography for Estimating Resection Cavities in Model-Based Image-Guided Neurosurgery. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 61(6), 1833-1843, 2014.

T. S. Pheiffer, R. C. Thompson, D. C. Rucker, A. L. Simpson, M. I. Miga. Model-Based Correction of Tissue Compression for Tracked Ultrasound in Soft Tissue Image-Guided Surgery. Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology, 40(4), 788-803, 2014.

D. C. Rucker, Y. Wu, L. W. Clements, J. E. Ondrake, T. S. Pheiffer, A. L. Simpson, W. R. Jarnagin, and Michael I. Miga, A Mechanics-Based Nonrigid Registration Method for Liver Surgery using Sparse Intraoperative Data. IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, 33(1), 147-158, 2014.

J. Burgner, D. C. Rucker, H. B. Gilbert, P. J. Swaney, P. T. Russell, K. D. Weaver, and R. J. Webster III. A Telerobotic System for Transnasal Surgery. IEEE Transactions on Mechatronics, 19(3), 996-1006, 2014.

D. C. Rucker, H. B. Gilbert, P. J. Swaney, J. Das, M. I. Miga, N. Sarkar, and R. J. Webster III. Sliding-Mode Control of Steerable Needles. IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 29(5), 1289-1299, 2013.

J. Burgner, P. J. Swaney, T. L. Bruns, M. S. Clark, D. C. Rucker, E. C. Burdette, and R. J. Webster III. An Autoclavable Steerable Cannula Manual Deployment Device: Design and Accuracy Analysis. ASME Journal of Medical Devices, 6(4), 041007, 2012.

D. C. Rucker and R. J. Webster III. Statics and Dynamics of Continuum Robots with General Tendon Routing and External Loading. IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 27(6), 1033-1044, 2011.

D. C. Rucker, B. A. Jones, and R. J. Webster III.A Geometrically Exact Model for Externally Loaded Concentric Tube Continuum Robots. IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 26(5), 769-780, 2010.

D. C. Rucker, R. J. Webster III, G. S. Chirikjian, and N. J. Cowan. Equilibrium Conformations of Concentric-Tube Continuum Robots. International Journal of Robotics Research, 29(10), 1263-1280, 2010.

D. C. Rucker and R. J. Webster III. Parsimonious Evaluation of Concentric-Tube Continuum Robot Equilibrium Conformation. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 56(9), 2308-2311, 2009.