London hosts leading centre for medical robotics

The Hamlyn Centre for Robotic Surgery will offer a "unique opportunity" for the development of robotic devices to use in conjunction with traditional keyhole surgery.

Funded with £10 million from the Helen Hamlyn Trust, the centre will bring together scientists from a range of disciplines to create "microbots" for use by other UK research organisations and industry bodies.

"The potential benefit of medical robotics to patients is exciting and one of the major focuses of the centre is to develop new technologies […] to allow safe, ubiquitous applications of robotics in healthcare," said Professor Guang-Zhong Yang, the centre's director of basic sciences and engineering research.

Sir Richard Sykes, rector of Imperial College London, commented: "This will allow us to attract international talents and develop UK technologies that will transform the future development of medical devices.