Dr. David Noonan and Dr. Chauncey Graetzel

Friday, March 8, 2019
9:30-10:20 am
Bldg. 320, Room 105

This seminar is open to the public. Students in ME 328 and CS/ME 571 are required to attend.

Seminar Topic: The Monarch Platform -- from concept to commercial reality

The Monarch Platform is the world's first robotic system for peripheral nodule biopsy. Combining Reach, Vision and Precise Control, the system enables clinicians to access parts of the lung that were unreachable with traditional manual bronchoscopy. Following FDA clearance in 2018, clinicians across the country are performing cases using the system. This talk will provide an overview of the Monarch Platform, examine some of the technical challenges that were overcome throughout the development process, and share some insights about a medical robotics startup as it goes commercial.

Speaker Bios

David Noonan earned a B.Eng in Mechatronics Engineering from Dublin City University, an M.Sc in Mechanical Engineering from King's College London, and a Ph.D. from Imperial College London. He worked on Image Guided Robotics and Fiber Optic RealShape (FORS) technology as a Research Scientist at Philips Research North America before joining Auris Health (formerly Auris Surgical Robotics) in 2015. At Auris Health, Noonan is the Director of Systems, Algorithms and Robotics. He helped lead the development of the Monarch Platform, the first robotic system for peripheral nodule bronchoscopy, and is currently working on the next clinical application for the Platform.

Chauncey Graetzel earned a B.Sc and M.Sc in Microtechnology from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne (EPFL), and a PhD in Bio-microrobotics from ETH Zurich. He was Head of Research for several years at Optotune, helping bring novel robotic optical devices to market. At Auris, he is a Principal Systems Engineer, where he has spearheaded the development and first commercial release of some of the key robotic algorithms controlling the medical devices.