Junling Fu, former PhD student in Bioengineering at the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering – Politecnico di Milano, has received the “Istituto di Biorobotica – Scuola Superiore S. Anna” PhD Award from the National Bioengineering Group (GNB) for his thesis entitled “Augmented Human-Robot Collaboration Framework for Robot-Assisted Surgery.” The research was carried out under the supervision of Prof. Elena De Momi.
The award was conferred “for designing and developing innovative methods to perform diagnostic and surgical tasks collaboratively shared between robots and humans—ensuring safety, efficiency, and demonstrated applicability in clinical practice.”
Robotic systems are increasingly integrated into surgical applications thanks to their dexterity, precision, and ergonomic advantages. However, combining autonomous robotic assistance with the surgeon’s control remains a key challenge.
In his PhD research, Junling Fu developed an augmented reality (AR)–based human–robot collaboration framework designed to enhance task performance in surgical settings. His work focused on improving the surgeon’s perception through an AR interface, increasing the robotic system’s level of autonomy for semi-autonomous execution of surgical tasks, and ensuring safety and stability during teleoperated, contact-rich medical procedures such as ultrasound imaging and palpation.
The proposed frameworks were experimentally validated in phantom-based percutaneous nephrolithotomy procedures and ultrasound imaging on ex vivo animal tissues, demonstrating their effectiveness and potential for clinical translation.