On Sunday 26th and Monday 27th June, during the first ever UK Robotics Week, over 250 surgeons and engineers from across the globe assembled at the Royal Geographical Society for the ninth Hamlyn Symposium on Medical Robotics.
This interactive annual event offers delegates the opportunity to listen to talks, attend various workshops and to take part in demos and simulations of the various medical robots being developed today. It was hosted by Imperial’s Hamlyn Centre for Robotic Surgery, one of the Institute of Global Health Innovation’s (IGHI) seven centres of excellence.
The theme for the ninth symposium was ‘New Challenges and Emerging Platforms’ and included a speaker line-up of leading scientists and engineers in collaborative robotics, navigation and image guidance.
The keynote lecture was delivered by Peer Fischer of the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Germany, who discussed untethered micro- and nano-robots for potential biomedical applications. Other speakers included Professor Paolo Fiorini from the University of Verona, who gave an engineering perspective on autonomy in surgical robotics whilst Dr Nabil Simaan of Vanderbilt University outlined intelligent continuum robots for surgery. Professor Darwin Caldwell from the Italian Institute of Technology in Genoa, Italy also discussed augmented, assistive and robotic technologies in micro surgery.
The Karl Storz - Harold Hopkins Lecture ‘Surgeons from Venus, Engineers from Mars – How to bridge the gap’ was given by Professor Amir Szold, Director of Assia Medical.
The event also hosted an interactive panel discussion about what has transformed robotics, which was chaired by Hamlyn Centre Director Professor Guang-Zhong Yang.
Guests also had the opportunity to attend workshop programmes on the days pre- and pro-ceding the Symposium. Topics covered included smart surgical devices, rehabilitation and assistive technologies, micro-robotics and robotic sewing and suturing, among others.
-- Jo Seed
