{"id":8352,"date":"2026-03-13T09:11:35","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T09:11:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyber-valley.de\/?post_type=researchfund-project&#038;p=8352"},"modified":"2026-09-01T12:01:54","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T12:01:54","slug":"cyber-physical-twins-of-human-organs","status":"publish","type":"researchfund-project","link":"https:\/\/cyber-valley.de\/de\/researchfund-project\/cyber-physical-twins-of-human-organs\/","title":{"rendered":"Cyber-physical Twins of Human Organs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Overview<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Surgeons, like airline pilots, need realistic environments in which to practise complex procedures. However, existing surgical simulators and simple substitutes often fail to reproduce the anatomy, texture, and mechanical behaviour of human organs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Led by Tian Qiu, this project developed cyber-physical organ phantoms in collaboration with three medical departments at the University Hospitals of T\u00fcbingen and Freiburg. The team created and studied six realistic models: the kidney, bladder, prostate, liver, vagina, and brain. These models combine physical replicas of organs with sensing and digital technologies, making it possible to collect biomedical data that would be difficult or impossible to obtain during real surgery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key results<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Developed organ models using 3D printing, soft-material moulding, and hydrogels designed to reproduce realistic anatomy and tissue mechanics.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Created a brain phantom made from a transparent composite hydrogel, enabling high-resolution imaging while preserving tissue-like mechanical properties.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Integrated optical imaging, ultrasound, electrical sensing, and augmented-reality tools into the physical models.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Developed systems for the quantitative assessment of surgical skills. Computer-based analysis can evaluate factors such as target detection, instrument movement, visualisation, and procedural efficiency.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Demonstrated that automated video analysis could distinguish between experienced surgeons and trainees during simulated endoscopic procedures.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Developed a hybrid surgical simulator in which a physical urinary-tract model is combined with an AI-based digital system that detects lesions and provides quantitative feedback.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Enabled clinicians to practise procedures and evaluate surgical instruments in realistic, repeatable, and safe environments.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why it matters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The project shows how realistic organ phantoms can function as both surgical-training platforms and experimental biomedical systems. They allow researchers to measure surgical performance, test instruments, and generate data for computer-assisted training without relying exclusively on animal tissue or human patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The work could support future applications in surgical education, medical-device development, and AI-assisted assessment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-deffcc9f wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">This project yielded the following peer-reviewed publications:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Choi et al. (2021): Soft urinary bladder phantom for endoscopic training, Ann. Biomed. Eng., 49, 2412-2420, DOI:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s10439-021-02793-0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">10.1007\/s10439-021-02793-0&nbsp;<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hackner et al. (2021): Panoramic imaging assessment of different bladder phantoms \u2013 an evaluation study, Urology, 156, e103-e110, DOI:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.urology.2021.05.036\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">10.1016\/j.urology.2021.05.036<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Kim et al. (2022): A high-fidelity artificial urological system for the quantitative assessment of endoscopic skills, J. Funct. Biomater., 13(4)301, DOI:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2079-4983\/13\/4\/301\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">10.3390\/jfb13040301&nbsp;<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tan et al. (2021): Soft liver phantom with a hollow biliary system, Ann. Biomed. Eng., 49, 2139-2149, DOI:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s10439-021-02726-x\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">10.1007\/s10439-021-02726-x&nbsp;<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tonyali S., Mueller A.-S. et al. (2024): Automated and quantitative surgical technique&nbsp;evaluation for TURP. In preparation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mueller A.-S., et al. (2024): Surgical training of bladder tumor resection on hydrogel models with quantitative assessment based on 3D ultrasound scanning. In preparation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Li et al. (2020): Realistic full urinary tract phantom for endoscopic training, The European Association of Endoscopic Surgery (EAES), Poster&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Kim et al. (2021): Organ Phantom for the Assessment of Robotic Surgeries, Hamlyn&nbsp;Symposium on Medical Robotics (HSMR), Poster&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Kim et al. (2021): Computer-assisted quantitative assessment of endo. skills based on a urological phantom, 55th DGBMT Ann. Conf. on Biomed. Eng., Talk, 66, S212-217,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.semanticscholar.org\/paper\/Computer-Assisted-Quantitative-Assessment-of-Skills-Yeon-Kim\/7c5017beea726b5a08363eaaf34cba94107e505a?utm_source=direct_link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Link to abstract<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Kim et al. (2022): A hybrid surgical simulator for interactive endoscopic training, IEEE Inter. Conf. of the Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), Poster, DOI:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ieeexplore.ieee.org\/document\/9871697\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">10.1109\/EMBC48229.2022.9871697<\/a>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tan et al. (2021): A realistic liver phantom for the training and quantitative evaluation of endoscopic skills, 17th World Congress of Endo. Surgery (WCES), Poster, 344272, P201&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mueller A.-S., et al. (2023): Surgical training of tumor resection on hydrogel models with quantitative assessment based on 3D ultrasound scanning. DKFK German Cancer&nbsp;Research Congress (GCRC). Poster&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Fischer, F.; et al. (2023): Wireless force sensing of a micro-robot penetrating a viscoelastic solid, International Nonlinear Dynamics Conference (NODYCON), Talk&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Fischer, F. et al. (2022): 3D fabrication of microvascular networks on artificial organ models for endoscopic surgical simulation. Poster. Future 3D Additive Manufacturing \u2013 The 3DMM2O Conference<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-deffcc9f wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Public events and public media reports:&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Presentation of German Chancellor Dr. Merkel during virtual visit of Cyber\u00a0Valley, 2020;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.student.uni-stuttgart.de\/en\/news\/all\/Chancellor-Angela-Merkel-and-Minister-President-Winfried-Kretschmann-visit-Cyber-Valley\/%C2%A0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Link to article<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>University of Stuttgart representing at Hannover Messe 2023;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.f05.uni-stuttgart.de\/en\/faculty\/news\/news\/Visionary-exhibits-at-the-Hannover-Messe-Hanover-Trade-Fair-2023\/%C2%A0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Link to article&nbsp;<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Stuttgarter Zeitung;&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/https\/\/www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de\/inhalt.hightech-medizin-aus-stuttgart-wie-miniroboter-durch-den-koerper-reisen.a529868f-60e6-4060-8076-4e7303e9771d.html%C2%A0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Link to article<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Spotify, Cyber\u00a0Valley Podcast, AI in Medicine;&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/https\/\/open.spotify.com\/episode\/2k61gAXaTtSDkEJPYeb2fn%C2%A0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Link to spotify episode<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true},"cv-tag":[],"user-group":[],"class_list":["post-8352","researchfund-project","type-researchfund-project","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Cyber-physical Twins of Human Organs - Cyber Valley<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cyber-valley.de\/de\/researchfund-project\/cyber-physical-twins-of-human-organs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"de_DE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cyber-physical Twins of Human Organs - Cyber Valley\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Overview Surgeons, like airline pilots, need realistic environments in which to practise complex procedures. 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