Research Services

Intro

ADVANCED RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE FOR SURGICAL INNOVATION

Recognized as a national research infrastructure in the SERI Roadmap of Research Infrastructures 2023, the OR-X provides a platform for translational research in surgical technology, robotics and medical imaging under real clinical conditions. Within this environment, researchers, start-ups and R&D teams from academia, hospitals and the MedTech industry can pursue their projects by:

  • collect surgical data,
  • integrate and test new systems
  • develop surgical methods
  • conduct validation studies.

To support this work, we provide access to experienced OR staff, enabling efficient workflows and reliable results. Research activities are structured through a 4-tier strategy and supported by three specialized technological units that contribute dedicated expertise to surgical research and innovation.

4-tier Strategy for Surgical R&D

  • 1. Tier: Surgical Core Facility

    The surgical core facility offers a realistic and fully controlled operative environment that enables surgical research and development while ensuring that real patient treatment remains unaffected.

    Tools:

    • Fully equipped OR
    • Surgical laboratory
    • Real anatomy
    • Surgical devices

    Impact:

    Research without compromising real patient treatment

  • 2. Tier: Intraoperative Imaging

    Advanced intraoperative imaging, combined with robotics and sensor technologies, enables richer intraoperative insights that support surgical decision-making and error prevention.

    Tools:

    • Intraopearative sensing devices
    • Robotic imaging and 3D reconstruction
    • Large multi-modal datasets

    Impact:

    Intraoperative-deciscion-making and error prevention

  • 3. Tier: Surgical Data Science

    Building on high-performance computing and NVIDIA DGX infrastructure, surgical data science enables real-time data acquisition and AI-driven analysis, translating complex surgical data into actionable insights.

    Tools:

    • Real-time collection of spatio-temporal data
    • Data aggregation and measurement methods
    • AI servers with real-time capabilities

    Impact:

    Advancing AI in surgery by enabling the digitalization and standardization of surgical treatments.

  • 4. Tier: Surgical Execution & Translation

    Surgical execution provides a practical environment for applying and validating new technologies, supporting prototyping and accelerating the translation of surgical innovations into clinical use.

    Tools:

    • Test-bed for incremental prototyping
    • Performance evaluation and clinical validation
    • Computer-aided surgery

    Impact:

    Ensuring the translation of surgical innovations into clinical practice while advancing precision surgery and treatment quality.

R&D Use Cases

R&D USE CASES WITH IMPACT IN SURGICAL INNOVATION

From early experimental work to clinically applied studies, past projects in our facilites illustrate how surgical research can be adapted to different stages of innovation within the same infrastructure.

  • Ex-Vivo Studies: Development and validation of surgical methods and technologies using real anatomical structures in a research setting.
  • Clinical Trials: Execution of clinically applied studies, including integration into clinical workflows and regulatory alignment.
  • Animal Studies: Preclinical investigation of surgical procedures, devices and workflows under controlled experimental conditions.
  • MedTech Validation: Technical and clinical validation of medical devices and surgical technologies under realistic operating room conditions.

View Research projects

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