08/07/2026
It was a privilege to host Prof Metin Sitti (President, Koç University) at NUS for an inspiring seminar and a lively discussion with our iHealthtech community.
Prof Metin Sitti shared his latest work and vision for wireless milli- and microscale medical robots 🤖🦠 designed to navigate hard-to-reach environments in the body and enable minimally invasive interventions. What resonated strongly was the breadth of potential clinical functions, ranging from targeted drug delivery and neural stimulation to clot opening, liquid biopsy, biofluid pumping, cauterization, and hyperthermia, and how these capabilities could meaningfully reduce invasiveness and side effects while improving patient outcomes.
✅ Miniaturization is also where the real engineering frontier begins: shrinking devices to the milli‑ and microscale imposes hard limits on on‑board actuation, power, sensing, computation, and communication. These constraints are driving innovation in new materials and fabrication methods (including 3D microprinting and assembly-based manufacturing), as well as robust approaches for wireless control and safe navigation using external physical fields (e.g., magnetic, acoustic, and electrical). Equally important is reliable tracking under clinical imaging modalities—including ultrasound, fluoroscopy, and photoacoustic imaging—to enable precise and safe operation in vivo.
Beyond the content, the Q&A stood out. Prof Metin Sitti was deeply engaged, energetic, and generous in exploring questions from the audience. We're hopeful the ideas sparked during the session will lead to new conversations and collaborations toward our shared goal of advancing patient care.
Sincere thanks to Prof Lim Chwee Teck, Director of iHealthtech, for inviting Prof Metin Sitti to our institute and making this seminar possible.