THEME 4
Image-guided Automatic Robotic Surgery
T42-409/18-R
Coordinating Institution
- The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Participating Institution(s)
- City University of Hong Kong
- The University of Hong Kong
Abstract
Existing surgical robots work in a remote-control mode, where a surgeon attentively tele-controls all the robots’ motions. It is widely considered that they will be replaced by next-generation surgical robots that can assist surgeons with automation functions and surgical intelligence. The next-generation surgical robots are expected to effectively alleviate surgeons’ physical and mental workload to reduce human errors and, hence, improve the overall quality of the surgery. This project aimed to develop state-of-the-art solutions to crucial technical problems, including real-time sensing, operative planning, instrument motion/action control, and surgical data analysis in semi-automated or automated robotic surgery. The research outputs have been integrated into surgical robotic systems, which were validated through cadaver experiments or clinical studies on human subjects. In addition to the academic research and technology development, parts of the research outputs have been commercialized by two startup companies spun off by the team members. The project could not have been completed successfully without close collaborations among the engineering experts, surgeons, local universities, and international institutions.
Research Impact
1) We have developed state-of-the-art technologies in sensing, planning, control and intelligence towards automated robotic surgery and the related intellectual properties, as evidenced by a large number of publications/presentations in the top journals or international conferences; 2) Commercialised parts of the research outputs via two startup companies, CornerStone Robotics Ltd and Agilis Robotics Ltd, which were established by the team members. The two startups have become leading players in multi-port surgical robots and miniature flexible surgical robots, respectively. 3) Developed the first one-surgeon-four-arms system and conducted the first clinical trials on AI-assisted semi-automated surgical robot; 4) The work has received international recognitions, as evidenced by the Best Paper award in medical robotics at the 2021 International Conference on Robotics and Automation etc.; 5) The research outputs largely contributed to the establishment of the InnoHK Centre: Multi-scale Medical Robotics Centre, which has been one of the leading centres in medical robotics in the world.
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Professor Yunhui Liu is currently Choh-Ming Li Professor of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, the Director of the CUHK T Stone Robotics Institute, and the Director/CEO of Hong Kong Centre for Logistics Robotics funded by the InnoHK clusters. He has published more than 500 papers in refereed journals and conference proceedings and was listed in the Highly Cited Authors (Engineering) by Thomson Reuters in 2013. His research interests include vision-based robotics, machine intelligence, and their applications in manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, and construction. Professor Liu has received numerous research awards from international journals and international conferences in robotics and automation and government agencies. In recent years, he has been actively transferring robotics technologies developed at university labs to industries and founded or co-founded VisionNav Robotics, CornerStone Robotics, and Zanecon Robotics. He is an IEEE Fellow and a HKAES Fellow.