A multidisciplinary research team from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)’s Faculty of Engineering and Faculty of Medicine (CU Medicine) has developed new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered surgical robot automation techniques, successfully completing the world’s first multi-task surgical automation tests on a live animal. The research has been published in the prestigious multidisciplinary research journal Science Robotics.

Embodied intelligence technology leads to breakthroughs in surgical robot automation

Surgical robots have performed millions of minimally invasive procedures worldwide. Autonomy is envisaged for next-generation surgical robots, enhancing operational efficiency and consistency, while alleviating pressure on medical resources.

Professor Dou Qi, Assistant Professor from CUHK’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering, who led the study, said: “Traditional surgical automation approaches often relied on additional sensors or predefined models, which limited their clinical applicability. We used innovative AI techniques to create a brand-new embodied intelligence framework for surgical robot automation, contributing a data-driven and purely vision-based solution that is the first of its kind globally.”

This surgical embodied intelligence framework can analyse endoscopic images in real time, without additional sensors. The framework integrates advanced visual foundation models, reinforcement learning and visual servoing techniques to achieve accurate, efficient and safe automation of various surgical tasks. Its foundation-model-based visual perception allows it to robustly perform surgical scene understanding and depth estimation in practice. The reinforcement learning-based control policy was trained using SurRoL, an embodied AI simulator that the team developed, and the simulation-trained policy can be directly deployed in real-world robots via zero-shot sim-to-real transfer. In this research, the developed AI system has been seamlessly integrated into the Sentire® Surgical System which has distinctive AI-readiness and AI-friendly characteristics. This data-driven paradigm eliminates task-specific engineering, providing a general-purpose solution for versatile surgical autonomy through embodied AI, accelerating the translation from concept to pre-clinical testing.

In vivo testing validates AI-powered multi-task autonomy and human-robot collaboration

The research team conducted in vivo testing of the AI system using a live animal model that replicated clinical surgical conditions. The system successfully performed multiple autonomous surgical tasks, including tissue retraction, gauze picking and blood vessel clipping – actions that surgeons regularly perform during operations.

Dr Yip Hon-chi, Assistant Professor from Department of Surgery at CU Medicine, who led the animal testing, said: “This represents a breakthrough in AI-powered surgical robot automation, validated across diverse tasks and environmental conditions. Our system demonstrates remarkable generalisability, maintaining stable performance despite environmental changes such as different tissue appearances and varying lighting conditions.”

The technology has the potential to enable the automated robotic arm to function as a surgeon’s third hand, providing assistance during complex procedures. By automating routine tasks with an AI assistant, the system can potentially significantly reduce surgeon workload, improve overall surgical efficiency and shorten procedure time for patients.

InnoHK Multi-Scale Medical Robotics Center (MRC) provides an international platform for high-impact research

The InnoHK Multi-Scale Medical Robotics Center (MRC) played a pivotal role in this groundbreaking research. SurRoL was developed through a strategic collaboration between CUHK and Johns Hopkins University (JHU) in the United States, fostered by the MRC’s international network. The research team open-sourced the surgical embodied AI software infrastructure to the global surgical robotics research community in 2021, and it has since been adopted by numerous prestigious research institutions worldwide.

Professor Samuel Au Kwok-wai, Co-director of MRC and Professor from CUHK’s Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, said: “This work exemplifies the exceptional innovations that can emerge from international collaborations cultivated by the MRC. The research has achieved pioneering advancements in AI-powered surgical robot automation,”

The live animal experiments were conducted in the MRC’s hybrid operating room, which provided professional support for pre-clinical evaluation. This environment allowed the surgeon to rigorously test the newly developed AI algorithms under conditions that closely resemble actual surgical settings. Professor Philip Chiu Wai-yan, Co-director of MRC and Dean of CU Medicine, said: “The MRC creates a unique synergy of engineering innovation and surgical expertise, significantly accelerating the journey from laboratory concepts to pre-clinical studies. This engineer-clinician collaborative research showcases the transformative potential of AI co-pilots in robotic surgery, positioning CUHK at the forefront of the global advancement of surgeon-AI-robot partnerships.”

The work was supported by the InnoHK initiative of the Hong Kong government’s Innovation and Technology Commission, the Hong Kong Research Grants Council, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Video: In vivo testing
Video: Presentation and demonstration

Source: https://www.cpr.cuhk.edu.hk/en/press/cuhks-newly-created-embodied-intelligence-platform-successfully-completes-the-worlds-first-multi-task-surgical-automation-tests-on-a-live-animal/

Three scholars from Faculty of Engineering received awards from the 2025-26 Research Grants Council (RGC) Senior Research Fellow Scheme and RGC Research Fellow Scheme in recognition of their distinguished research achievements.

Professor Xing Guoliang, Professor, Department of Information Engineering, and Professor Chen Shih-Chi, Professor, Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering were named in the RGC Senior Research Fellow Scheme (SRFS). Professor Xing’s research project is “Multi-modal Perception Fusion and Interaction for Infrastructure-assisted Driving Systems”, while Professor Chen’s is “Closed-loop High-throughput Super-resolution Two-photon Lithography”. Each SRFS awardee will be given the title “RGC Senior Research Fellow” and CUHK will receive a fellowship grant of about HK$8.2 million per award to cover salary costs for relief teachers and support for research projects over a period of 60 months.

Professor Zhou Renjie, Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering was named in the RGC Research Fellow Scheme (RFS). His research project is “High-sensitivity Morpho-molecular Microscopy for High-throughput Imaging Applications”. Each RFS awardee will be given the title “RGC Research Fellow” and CUHK will receive a fellowship grant of about HK$5.5 million per award to cover salary costs for relief teachers and support for research projects over a period of 60 months.

More details: Seven CUHK scholars named RGC Senior Research Fellows or Research Fellows | CUHK Communications and Public Relations Office

A cross-disciplinary research team from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)’s Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Engineering has developed a first-of-its-kind sub-millimeter Magnetically Actuated Soft Rotatable-tipped Microcatheter (MSRM) for targeted endovascular interventions. The novel technology demonstrates potential to provide a faster, safer, and more precise solution for treating life-threatening blood vessel blockages in the brain, addressing longstanding limitations of conventional tools in stroke intervention. Study results have been published in the international journal Science Advances.

As 22 July marks World Brain Day, the research team calls on the public to strictly manage stroke risk factors and adopt healthy lifestyles as stroke, regardless of whether the vessel occlusion is in the large or the distal-to-medium vessels (DMVO), may result in severe disability or death if not treated promptly and effectively.

Advancing stroke treatment with precision and speed

Stroke remains a leading cause of death and long-term disability worldwide. Research shows that every minute saved between stroke onset and treatment can translate into an extra week of healthy life, making rapid intervention critical. DMVOs are estimated to account for 25% to 40% of acute ischemic strokes. However, current treatment options, such as intravenous thrombolysis and mechanical thrombectomy, have limited effectiveness for these smaller, more distal vessels due to procedural risks and difficulty in achieving full reperfusion.

Stroke intervention requires arterial access, typically through a limb, followed by the navigation of guidewires and catheters through the cerebral vasculature. The interventionalist manipulates these devices externally by rotating the guidewire, but the passive transmission of rotational force through narrow, tortuous vessels often leads to slow and imprecise device control, which can compromise patient outcomes. Furthermore, the single-function design of current devices necessitates frequent tool exchanges, increasing the risk of losing distal vascular access during the procedure. Additionally, the limited ability of guidewires and catheters to negotiate sharp turns in complex vascular anatomy raises the risk of vessel wall injury, potentially resulting in cerebral hemorrhage or dissection.

The MSRM: a soft, steerable, all-in-one solution

To address these challenges, a research team with members from the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics at CU Medicine, and the Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering jointly developed the MSRM, a submillimeter-sized (0.5 mm to 0.9 mm), soft-tipped microcatheter, designed specifically for navigating complex vascular pathways and performing multiple treatment functions in one go.

Professor Zhang Li from the Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering explained: “The MSRM features a soft, rotatable tip that can be guided wirelessly using external magnetic fields, which enables precise navigation through complex blood vessels. Once it reaches the blockage, the MSRM can directly deliver clot-dissolving drugs, mechanically break down the clots, and safely retrieve clot debris. This all-in-one design eliminates the need for tool exchanges, reduces procedural risks, and significantly enhances treatment efficiency.”

Professor Thomas Leung Wai-hong, Lee Quo Wei Professor of Neurology and Head of the Division of Neurology in the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics at CU Medicine, added: “Unlike conventional tools, the MSRM’s soft silicone-based tip and low rotation speed (2–8 Hz) minimise trauma to delicate brain vessels. In tests using human placenta blood vessels, which closely resemble cerebral arteries, the MSRM showed minimal cell damage compared to the notable vessel wall damage caused by traditional guidewires. This novel device addresses key limitations in current stroke interventions and offers hope for better stroke treatment.”

Professor Tony Chan Kai-fung, Research Assistant Professor of the Chow Yuk Ho Technology Centre for Innovative Medicine at CU Medicine, commented: “The MSRM has been successfully validated in both in vivo rabbit models and ex vivo human placenta vessels, showing strong potential for future clinical application. The team envisions that this invention offers new hope for DMVO stroke patients, for whom current clot-busting procedures have not proven beneficial, partly due to the risk of complications.”

Early stroke intervention and prevention remain the key

Alongside this technological breakthrough, the team emphasizes that stroke prevention and early intervention are equally vital. Risk factors such as hypertension, smoking, physical inactivity, obesity, high cholesterol, and diabetes significantly increase the likelihood of stroke. The team urges the public to adopt a balanced diet, exercise regularly, avoid tobacco and excessive alcohol, and manage chronic health conditions through routine medical check-ups.

Dr Bonaventure Ip Yiu-ming, Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics at CU Medicine, remarked: “Recognising stroke warning signs is just as important. If a stroke is suspected, it is vital to act without delay and seek urgent medical attention. Timely intervention can save lives and significantly reduce the risk of long-term disability.”

The full research article can be accessed here:

Science Advances: http://bit.ly/4k6JOJs

More details: https://www.cpr.cuhk.edu.hk/en/press/cuhk-develops-first-of-its-kind-magnetic-tip-rotatable-microcatheter-for-precise-safe-and-rapid-treatment-of-acute-ischemic-strokes/

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