Hardware Podcasts

Axel Krieger | Autonomous Robotics in the Medical Device Field

Being an Engineer · 25 Mar 2022 · 31m · Episode 12

What this episode covers

Axel Krieger, an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University, discusses the development of the Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot (STAR), which performs autonomous keyhole bowel surgery (anastomosis) with superior consistency to human surgeons. The system uses supervised autonomy, infrared markers, and a custom structured light 3D camera to plan and execute sutures on bowel tissue, demonstrating results in preclinical animal studies. Krieger explains how STAR differs from the teleoperated Da Vinci robot by offering high autonomy for specific tasks, with commercialization handled through licensing to Active Surgical and potential future startups. The conversation covers the technical challenges of tissue deformation, vision systems, and the translational path from academic research to clinical application.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Johns Hopkins University, Active Surgical, Children's National Hospital, Rate Tricks, Pipeline Design & Engineering
Products
Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot, STAR, Da Vinci robot

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