Speaker:

Dr. Momen Abayazid

Associate Professor
Control and Instrumentation Engineering Department

Bio-Systems and Machines (IRC-BSM), Affiliate

King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals

Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

Abstract:

Advances in medical robotics and artificial intelligence are opening new possibilities for safer, more accurate, and less invasive interventions. This talk will highlight recent research in robotic motion compensation, image-guided interventions, and soft robotics for medical applications. Examples include AI-driven approaches to compensate for respiratory motion during procedures, integration of high-frame-rate imaging and haptics, and the design of soft robotic modules for interventional endoscopes. By combining robotics, imaging, and AI, these technologies aim to improve targeting accuracy, reduce patient risk, and expand the role of intelligent systems in the operating room.

Speaker Bio:

Dr. Momen Abayazid is currently working as an Associate Professor in the Control and Instrumentation Engineering Department and as an Affiliate in the IRC for Bio-Systems and Machines (IRC-BSM) at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Saudi Arabia.  He received his M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering from Delft University of Technology and a Ph.D. in Surgical Robotics from the University of Twente. In 2015, he was a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Boston, MA, USA), working on robotic image-guided needle insertion and motion compensation using machine learning. Since 2017, he has been a faculty in the Robotics and Mechatronics (RaM) group, focusing on medical robotics, soft robotics, and image-guided interventions. Dr. Abayazid has led and contributed to multiple EU-funded projects, established long-term collaborations with industrial partners such as Philips, and served as Associate Vice President of the IEEE RAS Member Activities Board (2022–2023). He is also an Associate Editor for the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS, 2021–2025).