Robotic technologies for medicine: from wired and rigid to wireless and soft solutions
Distinguished Research Seminar Series
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Date
23 Apr 2026
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Organiser
Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, PolyU
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Time
10:00 - 11:30
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Venue
CD303
Speaker
Prof. Arianna Menciassi
Remarks
If you have enquiries regarding E-certificate after the seminar, please contact david.kuo@polyu.edu.hk.
Summary
Robotic technologies are becoming increasingly widespread in healthcare, with many advanced platforms already deployed in preclinical and clinical settings, delivering significant benefits to both patients and the broader healthcare system. Robots for minimally invasive surgery, radiation therapy delivery, and the navigation of catheters and miniature devices within the human body are now a reality.
Beyond robotic tools used in acute settings for interventional procedures and minimally invasive surgery, robotic systems can also support long-term monitoring and therapy within the human body. In this context, implantable and ingestible in vivo robots are emerging as promising solutions for continuous treatment.
All these systems introduce important challenges for clinicians and engineers, particularly in terms of actuation, power, controllability, safety, and navigation.
Drawing on the speaker’s experience, this talk highlights the key challenges in developing robotic systems of different scales (from macro to micro) with a particular focus on fundamental technologies for wireless actuation.
Keynote Speaker
Prof. Arianna Menciassi
Professor
Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa – The BioRobotics Institute, Italy
Arianna Menciassi (Fellow, IEEE) received the M.Sc. degree in physics from the University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy, in 1995, and the Ph.D. degree in bioengineering from Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (SSSA), Pisa, Italy, in 1999. She is currently a Professor of bioengineering and biomedical robotics with SSSA, where she is the Team Leader of Surgical Robotics & Allied Technologies within The BioRobotics Institute. She served as Coordinator of the Ph.D. in BioRobotics in the period Feb. 2019-Feb. 2025, and in April 2019 she was appointed as the Vice-Rector of the SSSA for 6 years. Her research interests include surgical robotics, microrobotics for biomedical applications, biomechatronic artificial organs, and smart and soft solutions for biomedical devices. She pays special attention to the combination of traditional robotics, targeted therapy, and wireless solutions for therapy (e.g., ultrasound- and magnetic-based solutions). She has served for many years as the Co-Chair of the IEEE Technical Committee on Surgical Robotics. Prof. Menciassi is an Editor for the IEEE Transactions of Robotics and APL Bioengineering and she is an Associate Editor for Soft Robotics. She received the Well-tech Award (Milan, Italy) for her research on endoscopic capsules, and she was awarded by the Tuscany Region with the Gonfalone D’Argento, in 2007, as one of the best 10 young talents of the region. In 2020, she has been awarded with the KUKA Innovation Award, for her activities on robotic assisted focused ultrasound.
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