A robot in every Hong Kong hospital? One man’s vision to tackle surgeon shortfall
- Professor nominated in innovation category of Hong Kong Spirit Awards for making a difference in the healthcare system
- Researcher plans to put at least one affordable, safe and effective surgical robot in every hospital in the country
Professor Samuel Au Kwok-wai envisions a future powered by medical robots which can tackle the shortfall of surgeons in Hong Kong. And he intends to build them himself.
The researcher from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) said he was concerned that the demand for surgeons’ services kept outstripping supply, not only locally but also in mainland China, with an ageing population and more elderly people needing surgery, while training in the field remained inadequate.
“It’s a nationwide problem,” Au noted, adding that it was this capacity challenge that motivated him to carry out research into medical robotics.
The researcher said many academic studies and clinical trials showed that surgical robots, which could perform delicate and complex tasks and help less experienced surgeons hone their craft, might increase productivity and therefore resolve the bottleneck in the healthcare system.
But he pointed out that the high prices of imported state-of-the-art models could put off potential users, especially underfunded hospitals on the mainland.
“That prompted me and my team to reflect on whether we can do more for patients,” he said.
In 2019, the researcher founded a start-up to develop a system aimed at facilitating wider practice of robotic surgery in cancer treatment. The start-up is called Cornerstone Robotics.
