Axel Krieger | Autonomous Robotics in the Medical Device Field
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.