Ka-Wai Kwok received the B.Eng. and M.Phil. degrees from Department of Automation and Computer-aided Engineering (aka. Mechanical and Automation Engineering (MAE) currently), The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). In 2012, he obtained the Ph.D. degree from the Hamlyn Centre for Robotic Surgery, Department of Computing, Imperial College London. After then, he was awarded the Croucher Foundation Fellowship 2013, which supported his research jointly supervised by advisors in The University of Georgia, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School.
Currently, Ka-Wai is a Professor at MAE, CUHK. Before then, he served as faculty for Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong (HKU), in 2014-2024. His research interests focus on surgical robotics, intra-operative image processing, and their uses of control and intelligent systems. He has participated in various designs of robotic devices/interfaces for endoscopy, and MRI-guided interventions. To date, he has co-authored >170 peer-reviewed articles with >80 clinical fellows and >160 scientists/engineers. His multidisciplinary work has been recognized with various (>10) awards in international conferences/journals, e.g. the largest flagship conferences of robotics, ICRA and IROS. He was the recipient of ICRA Best Conference Paper Award in 2018, and IROS Toshio Fukuda Young Professional Award in 2020. He also obtained awards in his early career for robotics, e.g. the Early Career Awards 2015/16 offered by Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong, Actuators 2020 Young Investigator Award, HKU 2019-2020 Outstanding Young Researcher Award, HKU Young Innovator Award 2020 and HKU Research Output Prize 2021-22.
Ka-Wai is the principal investigator of research group for Interventional Robotic and Imaging Systems (IRIS), which has (>5) inventions licensed/transferred from university to industry in support for their commercialization. He is also a co-founder and director of Agilis Robotics Limited aiming at advancing the interventional endoscopy with small, flexible robotic instruments and their intelligent control systems. His team successfully performed world-first transurethral robotic en-bloc resection of bladder tumours (ERBT) in live human in 2024.
- Surgical Robotics
- Intra-Operative Image-Guided Robot Systems
- Control and Intelligent Systems
- Soft-robot-empowered acoustic phase and amplitude modulation for high-efficacy MRI-guided focused ultrasound treatments
- High-fidelity tendon-driven robotic assistant with multimodal sensing for joint arthroplasty
- AI-Powered Surgical Robots (Co-PI)
- AI-assisted microrobotic platform for minimally invasive interventions (Co-PI)
- Minimally Contiguous Intubation and Tracheostomy for Severe COVID-19 Patients with Teleoperated Endotracheal cum Percutaneous Dual Robotic Modules and Multi-Modality Guidance (Co-PI)
MAEG5090 Topics in Robotics
Selected Journal Papers
- V. Vardhanabhuti, K.W. Kwok, J.Y.K. Chan, Q. Dou, Machine-Learning, Medical AI and Robotics: Translating Theory into the Clinic, IOP Publishing Ltd., 2023 Link
- Z. He, J. Dai, J.D.L. Ho, H.S. Tong, X. Wang, G. Fang, L. Liang, C.L. Cheung, Z. Guo, H.C. Chang, I. Iordachita, R.H. Taylor, W.S. Poon, D.T.M. Chan, K.W. Kwok, “Interactive Multi-stage Robotic Positioner for Intra-operative MRI-guided Stereotactic Neurosurgery,”Advanced Science, 2305495, 2023 PDF Video1 Video2 Link
- C. L. Cheung, M. Wu, G. Fang, J.D.L. Ho, L. Liang, K. Tan, F.H. Lin, H.C. Chang, K.W. Kwok, “Omnidirectional Monolithic Marker for Intra-operative MR-based Positional Sensing in Closed MRI,”IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging (TMI), 43(1), 439-448, 2024 PDF Video Link
- C. H. Mak, Y. Li, Kui Wang, M. Wu, J.D.L. Ho, Q. Dou, K.Y. Sze, K. Althoefer, K.W. Kwok, “Intelligent Shape Decoding of a Soft Optical Waveguide Sensor,” Advanced Intelligent Systems (AISY), 2300082, 2023 PDFVideo Link
- X. Wang, J. Dai, H.S. Tong, K. Wang, G. Fang, X. Xie, Y.H. Liu, K.W.S. Au, K.W. Kwok, “Learning-based Visual-Strain Fusion for Eye-in-hand Continuum Robot Pose Estimation and Control,”IEEE Transactions on Robotics (TRO), 39(3), 2448-2467, 2023 PDF Video Link
- Z. Dong, X. Wang, J.D.L. Ho, Z. He, G. Fang, W.L. Tang, X. Xie, C.K. Ching, K.W. Kwok, “Shape Tracking and Feedback Control of Cardiac Catheter Using MRI-guided Robotic Platform – Validation with Pulmonary Vein Isolation Simulator in MRI,” IEEE Transactions on Robotics (TRO), 38(5), 2781-2798, 2022 PDFVideo Link [Best Technical Experimental Paper 2022-2023, selected by the Society for Cardiac Robotic Navigation (SCRN)]
- K.W. Kwok, H. Wurdemann, A. Arezzo, A. Menciassi, K. Althofer, “Soft Robot-Assisted Minimally Invasive Surgery and Interventions: Advances and Outlook,” Proceedings of the IEEE, 110(7), 871-892, July 2022 PDFLink
- J. Liu, J. Lam, K.W. Kwok, “Positive Consensus of Fractional-Order Multi-Agent Systems over Directed Graphs,”IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems (TNNLS), 34(11), 9542-9548, 2022 PDF Link
- G. Fang, M.C.K. Chow, J.D.L. Ho, Z. He, K. Wang, T.C. Ng, J.K.H. Tsoi, P.L. Chan, H.C. Chang, D.T.M. Chan, C. Holsinger, J.Y.K. Chan, K.W Kwok, “Soft Robotic Manipulator for Intra-operative MRI-guided Transoral Laser Microsurgery”, Science Robotics, 6(57), 2021 PDFVideo Link [HKU Research Output Prize 2021-22]
- Z. Guo, Z. Dong, K.H. Lee, C.L. Cheung, H.C. Fu, J.D.L. Ho, H. He, W.S. Poon, D.T.M. Chan, K.W. Kwok, “Compact Design of a Hydraulic Driving Robot for Intra-operative MRI-guided Bilateral Stereotactic Neurosurgery,”IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 3(3):2515-2522, 2018 PDF Link [Presented in IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2018 (ICRA’18) ICRA Best Conference Paper Award (out of 2,539 papers)] [Finalist (out of 3) for the Best Medical Robotics Paper Award]
- S. C. Tang, T.L.T. Lun, Z. Guo, K.W. Kwok, N.J. McDannold, “Intermediate Range Wireless Power Transfer With Segmented Coil Transmitters for Implantable Heart Pumps,” IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, 32(5):3844-3857, 2017 PDF Link First Place Prize Paper Award (out of 789 papers published in 2017)