“MIRACLE, short for Minimally Invasive Robot-Assisted Computer-guided LaserosteotomE, aims to develop a robotic endoscope to perform contact-free bone surgery with laser light”. (DBE)
Before visiting the DBE we asked ourselves: Which mindset do we need in our companies to deal with disruptive innovation? How do we create a spirit of entrepreneurship and courage? What do we have to do to convince investors, users and clients of the opportunities that robotics, virtual reality, 3D printing, big data and many other recent inventions bring us? Many of these questions were answered either during the tour or the Q&A session afterwards.
We saw how technology changes medicine, heard what new projects are in the pipeline and discussed the implications of today’s developments on organizations and their leaders. Prof. Zeilhofer and Rochester-Bern alumnus Dr. Müller were a great contribution to the event with their fascinating knowledge of innovation, digitalization and the future of medicine. They both focus on interdisciplinarity between the sciences, stressing the importance of patient needs, disruptive innovation and risk management.
Below are some impressions of a selection of different research groups of the department, all part of the flagship project MIRACLE:
Project 1
Biomechanics and Biomaterials: This research group deals with motion and movement research, material testing and biocalorimetry. It combines human biomechanic research with orthopedic surgery and sports medicine.
Project 2
Laser and Robotics: Bio-Inspired Robots for Medicine-Lab: Minimally-invasive laser surgery will change the face of medicine. They “develop robotic endoscopes for laser ablation of hard tissue, bio-inspired sensor technologies, tele manipulators, and haptic control strategies for endoscope manipulation”.
Project 3
Imaging and Computational Modelling: Virtual Reality visualization of CT-scans.
Project 4
Apero: A warm thank you to the DBE team for organizing this delicious apero.