Gutruf Earns Sensor Lab Seed Grant for Robotic Surgery

BME assistant professor and Craig M. Berge Faculty Fellow Philipp Gutruf is one of eight seed-grant recipients in the University of Arizona Health Sciences Sensor Lab. With a combined total of $400,000, these grants for sensor-based projects aim to advance the potential of new technologies or applications. Gutruf's research in the Sensor Lab tests the hypothesis that the integration of tactile sensation with other sensing modalities in robotic surgery will significantly improve the surgeon’s skills acquisition, improve intra-operative experience and provide an additional layer of quality assurance and patient safety.

“The Sensor Lab will open new frontiers of discovery not only at the University of Arizona Health Sciences but across the university as a whole, enabling researchers to harness great advances in sensor technology,” said BME professor and BIO5 Institute director Jennifer Barton. “Our goal with the grants was to identify and connect with researchers who could quickly utilize the funding to support their projects. The quality and number of proposals we received was exciting for us and we look forward to offering another round of grants in the future.”