Digital Health Seminar Series: Antonia Tzemanaki

Antonia Tzemanaki (University of Bristol)

Dexterous Manipulation and Teleoperation in healthcare with the end-user in mind

Dexterity in robotics goes beyond just the ability to grasp objects with multi-fingered hands or achieve pinpoint accuracy in manipulation. It encompasses a wide range of capabilities, including the ability to sense and respond to tactile information, provide haptic feedback, and execute precise tasks such as needle insertion. This kind of advanced manipulation extends to teleoperation, where remote control of robotic systems must replicate human-like dexterity for effective performance in medical interventions, hazardous or intricate environments. 

This talk will give an overview of a series of projects from the Dexterous Manipulation and Wearable Robotics Group at the University of Bristol that span various domains of robotics, highlighting innovations in surgery, diagnostics, and teleoperation, such as the development of a soft tactile sensory platform for autonomous breast examination and autonomous prostate biopsy.

Speaker bio:

Antonia Tzemanaki is Senior Lecturer in Robotics at the School of Engineering Mathematics and Technology at the University of Bristol and a core member of the Bristol Robotics Laboratory. Her research includes human and robot hands, hand exoskeletons, robot kinematics, haptics and wearable robotics, especially with applications in surgery, preventative medicine, rehabilitation, physiotherapy and dexterous tele-operation, as well as extreme environments such as nuclear and space industry. 

She holds a Meng Degree (2009) in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, an MSc in Robotics from the Department of Engineering and Mathematics, UWE, Bristol, UK and a PhD in Medical Robotics from UWE, Bristol and the Bristol Robotics Laboratory.

She was shortlisted amongst 50 women in robotics you need to know about in 2021 and is on the Board of Directors of the worldwide network of Women in Robotics.

Please note: this seminar will be recorded and shared on YouTube.