ICRA 2023 Full-day Workshop

New Evolutions in Surgical Robotics: Embracing Multimodal Imaging Guidance, Intelligence, and Bio-inspired Mechanisms

2 June 2023

ICC Capital Suite 10, ExCeL London, UK

Overview:

Surgical robotics has gradually become one of the fastest developing and most promising sectors in the industry of surgical devices. Despite more and more specific mechanisms designed for various types of surgeries, the navigation and autonomous strategies are also attracting increasing research and development (R&D) efforts. The trend toward clinical translation of surgical robotics increases the need for clinical requirements to motivate and guide research innovations. However, some scientific research contributions are detached from the surgical market and have inherent difficulties to boost the commercialization and marketization of surgical robots. To this end, this workshop aims to discuss feasible ideas from the aspect of advanced image guidance techniques (e.g., augmented reality), novel mechanical designs, and the role of machine intelligence in surgery autonomy, with the expectation of bridging the gap between academic research and industrial approval. Another goal of this workshop is to build a worldwide collaboration focused on the collection and sharing of data and algorithms for machine learning in robotic minimally-invasive surgery, from projects on similar topics funded by multiple national and international agencies.

Aim and Scope:

This workshop will provide a platform for scholars to communicate their recent outcomes and insights in the research of image-guided surgical robotics. The topics involve, but are not limited to, multimodal imaging guidance, surgical vision perception, state-of-the-art intelligent algorithms for sensing and control, (semi-)autonomous operation, and novel actuator/robot design. The final goal is to facilitate bridging the gap between knowledge transfer from universities to industrial approvals. Considering that surgical robotics keeps an irreplaceable position in the robot family and has specifically stringent requirements during the operation (e.g., safety), it will expand the originality and diversity of workshop content at ICRA 2023.