Prof. Nelson delivering report(Image by SIA)

On July 11, Bradley Nelson, Foreign Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and a professor at ETH Zurich, visited the Shenyang Institute of Automation (SIA) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and delivered academic lecture titled Clinically Ready Microrobots.

Prof. Nelson systematically reviewed the latest research advances in microrobotic platforms that are clinically translatable and adaptable to human-scale applications. He provided an in-depth elaboration on the three core technological pillars: robotic fabrication processes, magnetic field generation and high-precision control, as well as closed-loop intelligent navigation strategies. He also highlighted the cutting-edge application directions incubated by this technological platform, with particular emphasis on remote diagnosis and treatment of stroke. Through efficient, remote, minimally-invasive interventional solutions, this approach is expected to substantially expand the coverage and timeliness of emergency and critical care, offering a novel technological pathway for precision minimally-invasive clinical therapy.

After the presentation, Prof. Nelson held on-site discussions with participating researchers, focusing on topics including the intelligence and application prospects of micro-nanorobots.

Prof. Nelson has been a Professor of Robotics and Intelligent Systems at ETH Zurich since 2002 and was elected as a Foreign Academician of CAS in 2025. With a long-standing research focus on microrobotics, nanorobotics, and medical robotics, he is a globally leading scholar in the field of medical micro/nanorobotics.

The academic activity was jointly organized by the Division of Science and Technology of SIA, the State Key Laboratory of Robotics and Intelligent Systems, and the International Joint Research Center for Advanced Robotics and Industrial Internet of Things. It was chaired by Prof. LIU Lianqing, deputy director of SIA.