Meet the Jury Zhuoqi Cheng on Robotic Augmentation of Electrical Bio-Impedance Sensing for Intelligent

Arenberg Doctoral School is proud to invite you to Meet The Jury!

When internationally renowned experts visit KU Leuven as a member of a PhD Examination Committee, we like to seize this opportunity to give this expert a forum to a large audience. All members of Science, Engineering & Technology are most welcome to the Meet The Jury Lectures.

Prof. Zhuoqi Cheng (The Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute, Southern Denmark University, Denmark) will give a lecture on “Robotic Augmentation of Electrical Bio-Impedance Sensing for Intelligent”.

Abstract:
Accurate intraoperative tissue identification remains one of the fundamental challenges in minimally invasive and robot-assisted surgery. While modern surgical robots provide enhanced dexterity and visualization, they largely lack intrinsic capability to sense tissue composition and subsurface structure in real time. Electrical bio-impedance (EBI) sensing, encompassing electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and electrical impedance tomography (EIT), offers a complementary modality capable of differentiating tissue types based on their dielectric properties. However, conventional EBI implementations are constrained by fixed & regular electrode configurations, limited accessibility, sensitivity to contact conditions, and workflow disruption. I hope to take this chance to discuss how robotic technology can fundamentally enhance the capability of EBI sensing. Robotic manipulation enables controlled electrode positioning, constrained indentation depth, active search strategies for subsurface targets, and autonomous impedance scanning. This synergy allows transformation from static impedance measurements toward spatially resolved, robot-assisted bioelectrical imaging. We further highlight strategies such as Bayesian active sampling, robot-assisted EIT reconstruction, and simulation-to-reality conductivity estimation to improve measurement precision under realistic surgical conditions. Our current research focuses on the development of a comprehensive EBI framework including software toolbox for electrode distribution optimization, adaptive sensing strategy design, layered-model-based reconstruction algorithms, and dedicated hardware to support different sensing requirements. In parallel, we seek to create an accurate and interpretable EBI-based sensing platform that can be seamlessly incorporated into modern surgical robotic systems, ultimately enabling precise diagnosis, improved margin assessment, and increased levels of surgical intelligence and autonomy.

Following the lecture, there will be opportunity for young researchers to interact with him.

• Venue: R.MECH.Vergaderzaal da Vinci.391-11.04.56 (Celestijnenlaan 300, 3001 Leuven)
• Date: 16 March 2026 – 10:00-11:00
• Professor Zhuoqi Cheng is visiting KU Leuven on the occasion of the PhD defence of Yao Zhang