Description
Surgical technology can transform outcomes, but innovation does not automatically translate into equitable access, real-world adoption, or sustainable impact. Many important clinical needs remain under-addressed because cases are dispersed, evidence is difficult to generate, workflows are demanding, and the resources required for deployment vary widely across settings. At the same time, devices are increasingly expected to be not only effective and safe, but also affordable, repairable, low-impact, and scalable.
This workshop presents a unified roadmap for responsible surgical innovation, spanning clinical need, design philosophy, device architecture, and implementation pathways. It highlights “smart-by-structure” strategies, where function is embedded in materials, geometry, and embodied intelligence, to enable devices that achieve sensing, actuation, and safety with reduced complexity, improved usability, and a smaller environmental footprint.
Across four interactive sessions, speakers from clinical practice, research, and translational teams will discuss: (1) defining the right problems and endpoints across diverse clinical contexts and access constraints; (2) selecting materials and mechanisms that support smart actuation/sensing and workflow-aware usability; (3) translating these principles into robust device architectures inspired by nature and compliant design; and (4) enabling adoption through affordability, circular design, industrial scaling, regulation, procurement, training, and maintenance, especially beyond high-resource environments.
The workshop combines short talks with moderated discussion and audience participation. Participants will leave with practical principles and a concrete framework for moving from need-led ideas to deployable surgical technologies that are effective, usable, equitable, and sustainable.
Structure (4 sessions)
- Clinical need / context: needs from research, clinics and translation; global access constraints; selecting meaningful outcomes.
- Design philosophy: smart-by-structure materials; actuation and sensing; safety and usability by design; low-impact choices.
- Device architecture: bioinspiration, compliant/soft structures, modularity, reliability, sterilisation and manufacturability.
- Implementation pathways: low-cost and circular design; scaling and supply chains; training; regulation and procurement; adoption in diverse settings.
Programme
| 08:30 | Registration & Coffee | |
| 09:00 | Introduction of the workshop | |
| 09:15 | Context-specific designs of medical devices and the (difficult) path into low resource settings | Jenny Dankelman, TU Deflt |
| 09:40 | Medical Devices Beyond the Clinic: Designing for Diverse Users in Women's Health | Aoife McDonald-Bowyer, University College London |
| 10:05 | Designing for Adoption: Bridging Regulation, Procurement and Real-World Use | Valentina Vitiello, King's College London |
| 10:30 | Coffee Break | |
| 11:00 | Overcoming Systemic Exposure: Magnetic Microrobots for Targeted Drug Delivery | Fabian Landers, ETH Zurich |
| 11:22 | Towards Equitable and Sustainable Surgical Robotics Through Design, Structure, and Materials | Julie Legrand, TU Eindhoven |
| 11:44 | Tissue engineering biological actuators for biohybrid robotics | Ritu Raman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| 12:06 | Laser Induced Graphene for Soft Sensors and Robotics | Francesco Greco, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies |
| 12:30 | Lunch Break | |
| 13:30 | Circular healthcare: Turning medical and robotic waste into new products | Bart Van Straten, TU Delft |
| 13:52 | Ec(h)o Surgery: Ultrasound For The Future Of Zero Waste Healing | Andrea Mariani, Soundsafe Care |
| 14:14 | The path from concept to clinical use – challenges and lessons learned | Gernot Kronreif, ACMIT |
| 14:36 | Panel Discussion | |
| 15:00 | Coffee Break | |
| 15:30 | Bioinspired Medical Devices: Designing Smartness by Nature | Paul Breedveld, TU Delft |
| 15:50 | Designing interactive medical devices with soft robotics | Lukas Lindenroth, King's College London |
| 16:10 | Unconventional design approaches for low-cost surgical devices | Arianna Menciassi, Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies and Lorenzo Mocellin, Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies |
| 16:30 | Affordable Soft Medical Devices: Engineering Simpler Routes to Better Care | James Chandler, University of Leeds |
| 17:00 | Workshop End | |
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:
- Frame surgical innovation challenges by translating clinical problems into clear need statements that include pathway, workflow and access constraints across diverse settings;
- Select patient-meaningful endpoints and feasible evaluation strategies for under-addressed indications and early-stage devices;
- Apply “smart-by-structure” principles by embedding function in materials, geometry and compliance to achieve actuation/sensing and safety with reduced complexity;
- Connect design choices to manufacturability and clinical practicality, including sterilisation compatibility, robustness, and reliability;
- Map implementation pathways that anticipate translation barriers – training, regulation, scaling and maintenance – while incorporating lifecycle and sustainability considerations (cost, circular design, reuse/repair and end-of-life). Participants will leave with a concise Need→Design→Architecture→Adoption roadmap for their own project.
Sponsored by:
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Sponsor This Workshop – Smart by Structure: Designing Surgical Devices for Equity and Sustainability
Suggested Price: £500.00
Sponsor This Workshop for £500
As an official Workshop Sponsor, sponsors will receive:
• Prominent logo placement on the workshop webpage
• Acknowledgement in workshop-related social media posts (LinkedIn, X, and Instagram)/and cross-posting from organiser accounts
• Recognition on prize certificates presented to participants
Sponsorship contributions will support essential workshop operational costs, including speaker travel and accommodation, poster prizes, and participant registration fees.
Please note that workshop sponsorship is separate from the symposium sponsorship packages and does not include exhibition or live demonstration opportunities.
You may also enter your own price below. Suggested amount: £500
Organisers
- Dr. Benjamin Calmé, University of Leeds
- Dr. Lorenzo Mocellin, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies
- Dr. Mostafa Atalla, University of Twente
- Dr. Quentin Boehler, ETH Zurich
- Prof. Christos Bergeles, King’s College London
- Professor Tim Horeman, TU Delft
- Prof. Arianna Menciassi, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies
This workshop is accredited for 6 CPD points.



