The SPIRITS project is a trinational collaboration between researchers from Switzerland, Germany and France to develop a new robotic support system in the field of interventional radiology. The improvement of the medical intervention will eventually be further developed and commercialized by the medical device industry.

Transnational Cooperation Added Value & Goals

Thanks to the unique and valuable economic network in the Upper Rhine region, the SPIRITS project includes five institutional partners and eight associated partners. Each institution has specific expertise (INSA (3D printed robots), HFU (tactile transducers), UMM (hydraulic actuators for medicine), FHNW (metallic 3D printing for biomedical applications), EPFL (intelligent surgical instruments)).

The SPIRITS project is funded under the Interreg Upper Rhine program and supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Other co-financiers are the Région Grand Est, the state of Baden-Württemberg, the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, the cantons of Basel-Stadt, Basel-Landschaft, Aargau and the Swiss Confederation.

Added value

The SPIRITS project combines several cutting-edge technologies such as 3D printing of titanium alloys, tactile transducers, miniaturized fluidic actuators and optical force sensors, thus contributing to technological innovation on the Upper Rhine. The development and transfer of the proposed technologies is therefore an important aspect of the SPIRITS project. The increased precision of the system proposed in the SPIRITS project allows earlier surgical treatment, reducing the need for more severe and costly procedures for patients in the trinational area.

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Copyrights : 

©Photothèque ICube / A. Morlot

©Photothèque ICube / A. Morlot

/futurium/en/file/spirits2jpgspirits_2.jpg

Copyrights : 

©FHNW / F. Schuler, M. de Wild

Auxetic actuator structure for biopsy needles 3D-printed at the FHNW.
©FHNW / F. Schuler, M. de Wild