NWO OTP grant awarded to Surgical Robotics Laboratory members. 

Dr. Venkat Kalpathy Venkiteswaran and Prof. Sarthak Misra of Surgical Robotics Laboratory (SRL) were awarded an Open Technology Programme (OTP) grant worth 600,000 euros from the Dutch Research Council (NWO) for the project FlexSMART. The Open Technology Programme is aimed at excellent research with potential for implementation in real-world applications, offering companies and other organisations an easily accessible way of becoming involved in scientific research that leads to usable knowledge.

FlexSMART proposes to create a new class of highly functional yet flexible surgical devices that work in tandem with robotic actuation units to broaden the scope of minimally invasive surgery.  The project aims for the advancement of minimally invasive surgery through robotic technology, leading to new devices for the medical instrumentation market and improvements in infrastructure for hospitals. The technology developed through FlexSMART will be translated to surgical operating theaters with help from clinical and commercial partners involved in the project.