The motto of this year's Kuka Innovation Award is 'Medical Robotics Challenge'. From a total of more than 40 ideas submitted, an international jury of experts selected the five finalists, who now have until the Medica medical trade fair in November to turn their concepts into reality. Kuka is providing its sensitive lightweight robot LBR Med, which is certified for integration into a medical device. The teams will also be supported by Kuka experts throughout the competition.

The five concepts will then be presented to the specialist audience at Medica in Düsseldorf and the winner of the Kuka Innovation Award, which is endowed with 20,000 euros, will be chosen.

The five final teams of the Kuka Innovation Award 2020

Team CONEEBot - Hamburg University of Technology, Germany: Needles are used to perform minimally invasive treatments such as biopsies. Researchers and developers have long been investigating image-based procedures and robotics to assist with the precise positioning of the needle. Until now, this has mostly involved aligning the needle to the target with the help of the robot so that the doctor can then move it to the target. This task is made more difficult by soft tissue deformation and bending of the needle during insertion. Team CONEEBOT's goal is to develop a smart needle that recognizes its environment to help the doctor position the needle correctly in conjunction with the robot.

Team HIFUSK - Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy: The non-invasive therapy method 'focused ultrasound surgery', or FUS for short, has the potential to radically change cancer treatment. The therapy can be carried out on an outpatient basis and does not require any incisions. The disadvantage of this method is that it is inflexible and can only be carried out with medical imaging. With the LBR Med it is possible to achieve more flexibility and control in the therapy.

Team RAOCT - Duke University, Durham, USA: Eye examinations can often only be carried out by ophthalmologists. One promising technology is optical coherence tomography (OCT). Although this scanning method is considered standard technology for many eye diseases such as glaucoma or diabetic retinopathy, it requires highly qualified specialists to operate it. With the help of the robot, the tomograph is to be automated, better aligned and easier to operate.

Team SpheriObot - Shanghai Jiaotong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai Electric Group, China: The number of patients with hip problems is large, even among younger people. The traditional treatment method for hip dysplasia, an insufficient formation of the acetabulum, is the so-called periacetabular osteotomy (PAO). In this procedure, the hip socket is cut out through several incisions and repositioned. This can lead to injury to nerves or blood vessels. The team from China is developing a robotic system that uses a special saw to reposition the acetabulum with fewer incisions. This can increase the accuracy of the surgical method and thus reduce the risk of surgical trauma.

Team SAHARRA - Slovak University of Technology, Bratislava, Slovakia: In laser hair removal, highly concentrated light penetrates the hair follicles. The laser light is then absorbed by the pigments in the hair root and generates heat. This damages the hair follicle and thus inhibits future hair growth. The SAHARRA team is developing a robotic application to improve the precision and speed of the treatment. A navigation system in conjunction with an LBR Med will determine exactly which areas still need to be treated. This will avoid unnecessary duplication of treatment.

The Kuka Innovation Award is being presented for the seventh time. The aim is to accelerate innovations in the field of robot-based automation and to strengthen the transfer of technology from research to industry. The award is aimed at developers, graduates and research teams from companies or universities.