Local start-ups and global technology companies are learning alongside medical practitioners and university students at an innovative training centre for minimally invasive surgery in Flanders, Belgium. By teaching life-saving skills using robotics, the centre boosts local growth and jobs. The project’s impacts stretch far beyond the region’s borders.
- 17 September 2019
Building the Orsi Academy has allowed us to meet the high demand for training innovation and R&D in healthcare. It’s a melting pot where healthcare professionals work inclusively and cross-disciplinarily alongside technology companies, universities and clinical experts. Now, we can further pioneer the development of minimally invasive surgery.
Healthcare relies on developing cutting-edge medical technologies to make procedures faster and safer. However, the high cost of this technology and a lack of knowledge and expertise have so far hindered wide-scale adaption of revolutionary equipment.
The Orsi Academy project used EU funds to build an ultra-modern robotic training centre near Melle in Belgium. Here, medical professionals, scientists, engineers and privately-owned companies can test the latest in robotic surgical equipment.
Building on medical experience
Before its new campus was built, the OLV Robotic Surgery Institute (Orsi) was based at the OLV hospital and then at a refurbished dairy farm near Ghent. Its founders shared a vision for a cutting-edge campus where different sectors could collaborate to develop minimally invasive surgery through training, R&D and data management.
Delivering safe and affordable healthcare is a priority for Belgian and Flemish policy makers. Robotic technologies improve the chances for survival and recovery because they reduce the invasive nature of surgery. Robotic hands filter out surgeons’ hand vibrations, allowing surgeons to work for longer.
Cooperating with the universities UGent and KU Leuven, Orsi begun construction on its new campus in 2017.
Operational since September 2018, the Orsi Academy is a nero-zero energy building made up of four 350 m2 inter-connected buildings, each housing four to six training labs. Its auditorium and meeting rooms can be rented for lectures or external events.
Training for a robotic future
The academy has trained specialists in different medical fields from across Europe. In 2018, it welcomed trainees from 32 nationalities. Of these trainees, 37 % were female. In 2019, about 1 250 individuals will be trained at the centre. This number is expected to grow to 2 000 by 2021.
A number of strategies have been put in place to ensure the campus is self-sustaining after the project finishes. It will continue to function as an incubator for existing companies and start-ups to test new technology. It already houses European training hubs for two leading robotic surgery companies: Medtronic and Intuitive.
While robotic technology is undoubtedly the future of surgery, this project is demonstrating how a range of industries can utilise it – not only medical professionals.
The project will create 20 jobs – five by the end of 2020 and 15 by the end of 2021.
Beneficiaries
“My medical colleagues strongly recommended the Orsi Academy. The structured training was tailored to my surgical background, and I’m sure that the knowledge acquired will be crucial to improving my abilities in robotic surgery and to safely applying them in my clinical practice.”
Elio Mazzone, Clinical Fellow and trainee at the Orsi Academy
“The numerous robotic systems at the academy, its cutting-edge training tools and the possibility of applying the knowledge acquired on test models are all elements that are very difficult to find elsewhere. The staff here and their enthusiasm for teaching are excellent.”
Stefano Puliatti, Orsi Academy trainee
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “Orsi Academy” is EUR 15 896 013, with the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 5 916 810 through the “Flanders” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period. The investment falls under the priority “Strengthening research technological development and innovation”.