Through the funding support of the HKSAR Government, MRC was established in April 2020 by the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Engineering of the CUHK in collaboration with ETH Zürich, Imperial College London, JHU and HKU. MRC brings the worlds of medicine and robotics together, focusing on technological innovation with a strong emphasis on clinical translation and direct patient benefits. The Center serves as a synergistic platform for clinicians, engineers and researchers from local and overseas universities to work together and forge new ways to translate biomedical engineering research innovations into medical practices. Together as a medtech translation ecosystem, MRC is within 15 minutes' drive from Prince of Wales Hospital and CUHK Medical Centre, the two teaching hospitals of CUHK where clinical trials will be conducted. In the long run, the Center will serve as a medical robotics incubation hub to foster medical technology start-ups, to provide training in surgical robotic technologies, to offer pre-clinical evaluation support services, and to promote the commercialization of novel medical robotics technologies.
Cornerstone Robotics Limited is a start-up company focusing on robotics technology for healthcare with particular interests in rehabilitation and surgery with the emphasis on both innovative research and development and practical clinical translation. The company aims to become a provider of the basic core building blocks of innovative robotics technology for healthcare. Specifically, there will be four main directions: imaging and sensing technology, multi-modality-based control, surgical instrument navigation and localization, surgical intelligence, and perception.
Agilis Robotics is a start-up company that develops highly miniaturised and flexible robotic instruments for endoluminal surgery. The robotic system is able to seamlessly integrate into current clinical workflows and drastically reduce the learning curve associated with endoscopic surgery. Ultimately, Agilis Robotics' goal is to provide clinicians with the next generation of minimally invasive instruments so more patients can receive effective and efficient early-stage care.