The market for medical robots is expected to grow at above 20% per year for the next 10 years and account for over US$ 40 billion at the end of this period. While this field is currently dominated by surgical robots, robot systems are being introduced in an increasing number of new healthcare applications.

In this webinar, Dr. Mats Isaksson, the leader of the Intelligent Robotics Program at Swinburne’s Manufacturing Futures Research Institute, will provide an overview of medical robotics with a particular focus on surgical robots and the increasing use of collaborative robots in medical applications.

Intuitive Surgical has dominated (and continue to dominate) the market for surgical robots with a market share many times that of all other companies combined, however, with the expiry of some of the original da Vinci patents, several large medical companies including Johnson & Johnson and Medtronics are introducing new systems seeking to improve on the Intuitive’s da Vinci robot through novel technology, lower cost, and size reduction.

One important benefit of surgical robots is their potential to extend a surgeon’s career. Our research into the ergonomic benefits of robot-assisted surgery will be presented by Ph.D. candidate Ms. Jaime Hislop.

Collaborative robots (or cobots) are designed to safely interact with humans. The availability of mass-produced, low-cost, collaborative robots has enabled the introduction of numerous new medical robot applications. This presentation will provide a brief overview of such applications in addition to details about our research into using collaborative robots for photobiomodulation therapy and ultrasound applications.