Bulletin No. 2, 2023

Professor Chiu explains that first-hand comments from professional users are a crucial part of the translation ecosystem. “Doctors have rich clinical experience. They can tell you what the problems of the existing medical technology are and suggest directions for improvement. Engineers possess the technical expertise to offer technological solutions and fix the issues, and let doctors verify the adjustment. The MRC is the missing piece between driving surgical robotics technology forward and applying it clinically.” Professor Au adds: “Beyond lecture-style discussion, it allows surgeons to explain animal or cadaver anatomy more effectively to engineers while it also lets engineers validate their initial conceptual prototypes on animal or cadaveric models. At the end, all these activities will facilitate engineers to iterate their hardware prototypes quicker, ultimately leading the creation of clinically relevant medical products for real human use.” The MRC is also well connected with top-notch local and overseas universities. “Our collaborators include ETH Zurich, Imperial College London and Johns Hopkins University,” notes Professor Chiu. Unique features The Hybrid Operating Room in the MRC Lab, equipped with MRI and Robotic-Assisted C-Arm X-ray Imaging System (Artis Zeego) machines, enables real-time intra-operational medical imaging during surgical robotic intervention R&D. The only one of its kind in Asia, the facility is fully dedicated to R&D and pre-clinical evaluations of new surgical robots and medical devices via live animal and cadaver studies. Over the past three years, more than 70 researchers and practitioners, including 20 to 30 engineers and up to 20 surgeons from CUHK’s Department of Surgery, have been engaging in research work in the centre. Dreams come true The MRC supported local startup company, Cornerstone Robotics (CSR) to translate their innovations into clinically relevant products. Having undergone years of collaborative research, repeated evaluations, modifications, intensive animal and cadaver tests, and simulated surgery, the Sentire C1000 Endoscopic Surgical Robotic System of CSR— the most complicated such platform developed in Hong Kong—went through clinical testing last year. The MRC offered pre-clinical evaluation support services for CSR as a part of the translation ecosystem. With the support of the MRC team, the Sentire system has been successfully used for over 30 surgeries at Prince of Wales Hospital during the clinical trial, including prostatectomy, colorectal resection, hernia repair and gastric fundoplication, with satisfactory results and no reported patient discomfort. Among them, the colorectal resection was accomplished within one hour, a stark contrast to traditional open abdominal surgeries which last between several hours. From the surgeon’s perspective, Professor Chiu says, “I don’t see any difference in the performance and capabilities between the existing surgical platform and our robotic platform, which comes with significantly decreased costs.” During his trip to Hong Kong in 2022 to celebrate the 25 th anniversary of the city’s return to Chinese rule, the Sentire system was selected as one of the top seven innovations presented to President Xi Jinping. Xia Baolong, Vice Chairman of the 13 th Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and Director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, also paid a visit to the MRC, in April 2023. After a brief introduction by Professor Chiu and Professor Au, Mr Xia even operated the robotic platform himself. “Mr Xia was thrilled that Hong Kong has developed robots with cutting-edge technology and encouraged us to continue advancing the 10 Chinese University Bulletin No. 2, 2023