The EAES congress in Rome embraces the PALPABLE M6 meeting

On June 22-23rd, our second physical PALPABLE meeting occurred in Rome, marking six months since the project officially commenced. The meeting’s venue was the Roma Convention Center La Nuvola, where the 31st International EAES Congress took place at the same time. The congress lasted for four days (20-23 June 2023) and welcomed almost 1500 attendees from more than 80 countries. With 60 exhibitors, 70 scientific sessions and five hands-on courses, PALPABLE was in its natural habitat.

Regarding the meeting itself, all partners (TWI Hellas, Hellenic Mediterranean University, Medtronic,Bendabl, Università degli Studi di Torino, Fraunhofer HHI, The European Association of Endoscopic Surgery, Sofradim Production SASU, Queen Mary University of London, University of Essex) shared overviews of their progress. More specifically, the consortium discussed current achievements, ongoing developments, as well as future steps relevant to each partner’s expertise, from haptic sensor and photonic circuit design to soft robotics and pneumatic actuation systems. During the consortium gathering, a workshop was conducted with the EAES Task Force made up of esteemed surgeons specialising in minimally invasive surgery (MIS) from different medical specialities, who will be consulted throughout the project.

Last but not least, the PALPABLE highlight at the EAES Congress was that our research initiative got to have its own banner hanging on one of the walls of the EAES stand, thanks to Arjan Appel, the EAES Executive Director. This significant occasion was the first of many to come for the project to showcase its technologies and overall mission.

The month-6 meeting was successful the consortium members got the chance to align about the course of the project, attend the EAES Congress and explore innovations in the meditech industry. The next M12 meeting will be organised by Fraunhofer Heinrich-Hertz-Institut (FHHI) in late autumn 2023. Lastly, a big “thank you” to EAES for hosting the meeting and offering such an interesting experience.