Connecting the Dots at the Surgical Robotics and Innovation Summit

The Connecting the Dots Annual Symposium was held as part of the 2024 Surgical Robotics and Innovation Summit on June 14. The event brought together early career researchers as well as individuals with extensive experience in research, clinical practise, regulation, policy and commercialisation.

The first panel session brought together some of these individuals to explore the resources available to help plot the translational journey. The key messages coming from all panellists – talk widely across all of the expertise that will be needed and build a team for the journey and on both fronts start early. These conversations and the input of diverse array of expertise will help shape the research journey and build the translational road map.?

The panel reiterated that for our researchers to be successful in translating their innovations and subsequently scaling their innovations, they must be in tune with the pressures on the modern health system. Financial sustainability and cost effectiveness were a specific focus of this panel which was demonstrated by Dr Teresa Anderson AM (representing the public sector) and Dr Jeanette Conley (representing the private sector), Prof Terry Campbell (who represented the Prosthetic List and TGA) and A/Prof Kerin Fielding (RACS President). Their views were complemented by the success stories from the innovators on the panel (Chad Wilhelm and A/Prof Celi Varol) who demonstrated that when innovators align themselves with these priorities, they can be incredibly successful even at times of financial hardship in health.

The second session was the opportunity for our early career researchers to shine - and shine they did. The topics covered were diverse and exciting. Presentations included:

• Jolande Ma: The Changing Face of Virtual Surgical Planning in Jaw Reconstruction
• Angelique Kumar: Healthcare Variation in Access to Ossicular Chain Reconstruction (OCR) Surgery within New South Wales (NSW)
• Steven Posniak: Custom-Designed 3D Bioprinter for Auricular Cartilage Regeneration
• Eileen Wallace: Point of Care (POC) Bioprinting of Spray-on-Skin? for the treatment of Full-thickness Burn Wounds
• Masoud Mohseni Dargah: Advancements in Mandibular Reconstruction: Integrating Finite Element Analysis with 3D-Printed Artificial Bone
• Behrouz Aghajanloo: Developing a Biomimetic Auditory System for Hearing Restoration
• Ulises Aregueta Robles: Human-scaled Cochlea Tissue Constructs for in vitro Testing of Electrode Technologies
• Rhea Kaur: Radiomics and Artificial Intelligence in CT Paranasal Sinus Imaging
• Xiao Liu: Explore the Potential Clinical Applications of Injectable Bioadhesive Conductive Hydrogel
• Kameron Fonseka: Emergency Airway Surgery in Space

Our judging panel comprising of Teresa Anderson, Terry Campbell and Kerin Fielding were given the unenviable task of selecting the best presentations in a number of categories. The winners were Eileen Wallace for Overall Best Project, Xiao Liu for Most Innovative Paper, Angelique Shivani Kumar for Most Unmet Need and Masoud Mohseni Dargah for Most Impactful Project.

The final session was equally intriguing with presentations by?Jarrod Belcher from MTP Connect on preparing the workforce and the great success of the REDI program in helping achieve this.

This was followed by Prof Susie Nilsson on the critical role that CSIRO can play in deploying Australian research for national Impact. Again, the message was to start the conversation early. If a discovery is to be deployed into the clinic, then it must be scalable. How often have we seen protocols developed that would be very difficult if not impossible to scale?

Our final panel session brought together an impressive array of expertise to explore the use of AI in identifying and implementing innovative solutions in medicine made up of Dr Simon Singer (TGA), Prof Jian Yang (Macquarie University), Dr Simon Cos (Microsoft CMO), Prof Stuart Grieve (Radiologist) and A/Prof Amith Shetty (CEO Digital Health NSW Health). Whilst the influence of AI in research appeared repeatedly in the meeting, this panel took a deep look at the systemic challenges in understanding the overt and covert influence of AI in clinical care and research whilst we are still grappling with clarity around regulation, bias and cost of the technology.

The panel highlighted that the Australian health system and research infrastructure is highly fragmented impeding data governance. Thus, the cost due to duplication of resources also hampers good governance ironically inhibiting the speed of responsible adoption. Unfortunately, without a system wide strategy, Australia may remain a consumer of this technology created internationally: a missed opportunity for the full benefits to the Australian economy and potentially also sovereign control of Australian data. Stay tuned to Beyond Science for more activity here.

That’s a bit of our recollection of Connecting the Dots Third Annual Symposium.

A huge thanks to those who provide support including Passe Williams, RACS (NSW) and all the members of our Advisory Board as well as Scientific Committee.

If you need more information, please feel free to contact myself ([email protected])?or Payal ([email protected]).

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