It's not an exaggeration to say that robotics research is driving life-saving innovations – robots are already making a difference in clinics and operating theatres around the world. In our first episode, we'll chat to researchers about how robotics is revolutionising medicine and surgery.

In this episode, I'm joined by Dr James Chandler (STORM Lab, University of Leeds) and Dr Matina Giannarou (Hamlyn Centre, Imperial College London) to talk about the exciting world of medical and surgical robotics and find out what they've been working on.

Dr James Chandler is a Research Fellow in the Science and Technologies of Robotics in Medicine (STORM) Lab at the University of Leeds, working on low-cost, soft robotic technology for intravascular and endoscopic applications. He has a master's degree in Automotive Engineering and a PhD in surgical sensing of cancer from the University of Leeds. In his research he is interested in soft and flexible robotic systems for surgery and sensing technologies for identifying tissue disease.

Dr Stamatia (Matina) Giannarou is a Royal Society University Research Fellow at the Hamlyn Centre for Robotic Surgery, Imperial College London, with a PhD in Image Processing. Her research focuses on enhanced surgical vision for navigation during minimally invasive and robot-assisted operations. She leads the Vision for Robotic Surgery research group at the Hamlyn Centre and is the chair of the annual Hamlyn Winter School on Surgical Imaging and Vision. In 2017 she won "The President's Award for Outstanding Early Career Researcher" at Imperial College London.