Lübeck Innovation Hub for Robotic Surgery

Students assist with the design and development of the LIROS infrastructure, including our digital twin concept, VIROS. Possible tasks include, but are not limited to:

• Building a software backbone (based on ROS 2) that connects robots, imaging systems and other devices, spanning both simulation and real hardware.
• Create and use robot simulations to test and validate procedures before deploying them on real systems.
• Use imaging technology, including a marker-based tracking system, to locate and track devices as well as people in the room.
• Explore VR/AR applications to support training, planning and intraoperative guidance for surgical workflows.
• Develop virtual patient models (including, for example, anatomy, physiology and clinical parameters) to enable realistic simulation.

As well as developing the LIROS/VIROS infrastructure, student assistants can also contribute to specific research projects within the LIROS environment. Some of our current projects include:

• Voice-controlled ultrasound robot
• Teleoperated skull drilling robot
• Twin robotic arm computed tomography (CT) system
• Automated surgical training and posture assessment
• Augmented reality setup guide for the Hugo™️ RAS surgical robot

We are looking for motivated students in the fields of computer science, robotics, medical engineering, electrical engineering, human–computer interaction and other related fields.

You should have a solid background in some of the following areas (not all are required):

• Programming skills (C++ / C# / Python) (this one is actually required)
• Networking and middleware (particularly ROS2)
• Simulation software (MuJoCo, Unity Game Engine)
• A fundamental understanding of robotics / working with robotic arms
• Computer vision and tracking
• VR/AR and user interface design
• Machine learning and mathematical optimisation

You enjoy working in an interdisciplinary team with engineers, computer scientists, medical technologists and clinicians, and you are willing to work with real hardware and experimental set-ups in the lab, which may also involve exposure to human anatomy and, in some projects, work with cadavers.