Robotic tentacles to help surgeons operate inside the body is among several new research programmes at Leeds supported by European funding.
The University of Leeds has received more than €19m in funding from the prestigious and highly selective European Research Council (ERC) during 2018. The figure places Leeds in the top 10 recipients of ERC funding among UK universities for the first time.
Since the referendum when the country voted to leave the EU, the University of Leeds has actually risen in the ranking produced by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from 12 to seventh place.
During 2018, the European Research Council supported nine diverse programmes at Leeds, worth a total of €19,291,485. Seven programmes were launched during the year and one of STORM LAB’s programs received approval and funding:
Novel Lifesaving Magnetic Tentacles
Lead academic: Professor Pietro Valdastri
School: Electronic and Electrical Engineering
Grant: €2.7million
Details: This programme aims to examine how to enable intelligent tentacle-like robots to help surgeons by reaching deep into the human anatomy. It will combine robotics, magnetics, manufacturing and medicine approaches, and is the first time such robotic systems have been proposed. Success in the programme would ultimately lead to improved quality of operations and better results for patients.