Computer and Robot Assisted Surgery (CRAS) is an area receiving broad attention world wide, because of its strong potential to achieve new levels of healthcare. In Europe, the robotics and the cognitive science communities have been independently pursuing research in this field, making significant, but fragmented contributions. Furthermore, strong manufacturers of surgical instruments are present in Europe. Thus, the objective of this project is to develop an integration methodology for the efforts of all research and manufacturing players in CRAS. The goal of this methodology is to facilitate the development of new products and their integration into surgical robots endowed with cognitive capabilities, thus establishing the new field of Cognitive Robotic Surgery.

To achieve this objective, the EuRoSurge project will develop a conceptual framework that will: simplify communication among the surgical, engineering and manufacturing communities; facilitate the integration of results of research and development into complex systems; simplify technology transfer from research to products; identify research synergies and thus maximize the impact of funding.