When Robots Care: Medical Robotics from Hospital to Home

Allison Okamura

Professor, Stanford University Mechanical Engineering Dept.

Location: Stanford Robotics Center, Packard Electrical Engineering Bldg, Basement

Abstract

Seventy-five years after the first industrial robots tackled the three D’s – dirty, dull, and dangerous work – today’s robots inhabit our homes, hospitals, and even our bodies. This talk explores how advances in design, fabrication, and physical human-robot interaction are enabling a new generation of medical technologies to support an aging population. I will begin with teleoperated surgical systems, which have become a standard tool in operating rooms. New flexible robot designs and human-centered artificial intelligence aim to improve the precision of these systems and enhance patient outcomes. Building on these advances, I will then introduce 3D robotic bioprinters, inspired by surgical robots, that have the potential to fabricate entire biological organs. Finally, I will describe emerging approaches to physical assistance using soft robotic structures. These include wearable devices that provide comfortable haptic feedback, gentle robotic systems that lift patients, and self-donning garments. These technologies combine softness and structural support to create new ways of controlling shape, generating meaningful forces, and interacting safely and effectively with the human body.

Bio: 

Allison Okamura is the Richard W. Weiland Professor of Engineering at Stanford University in the mechanical engineering department, with a courtesy appointment in computer science. She is a Science Fellow of the Hoover Institution and a founding faculty member and executive committee member of the Stanford Robotics Center. She is an IEEE Fellow and was previously editor-in-chief of the journal IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters. She is currently an Executive Committee member of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, and the Vice President for Science and Technology Watch. Her awards include the 2026 Robotics Medal, 2025 IEEE RAS George Saridis Leadership Award in Robotics and Automation, the 2020 IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Technical Achievement Award, and the 2016 Duca Family University Fellow in Undergraduate Education. Her academic interests include haptics, teleoperation, virtual reality, medical robotics, soft robotics, rehabilitation, and education.