Surgical Robot

Surgeons at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) have successfully completed the first-in-human clinical trial of a surgical robotic device developed by a Vanderbilt engineer to advance precision and control when removing kidney stones. The device is the first-known independently steerable kidney stone retrieval device, enabling more effective maneuvering… Read More

A surgical robot capable of performing an entire surgery without human intervention: That’s the goal of a landmark, multi-institution project being led by a Vanderbilt engineer that recently received an award up to $12 million in funding from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). Robert Webster and his… Read More

Robert Webster III, the Richard A. Schroeder Professor of Mechanical Engineering (left) and Dr. Duke Herrell, a urologic surgeon at VUMC, aim to make prostate surgery less invasive with a small endoscopic robotic system (Photo courtesy VUMC) Vanderbilt collaborators focused on minimally invasive prostate surgery are developing an endoscopic robotic… Read More

A critical goal in modern surgery is to make procedures as safe and minimally invasive as possible, which often means using robotic tools. Vanderbilt University bioengineer Nabil Simaan says a negative side effect of doing surgery with tiny entry points into the body is that the surgeon… Read More