Axel Krieger
Children's National, Johns Hopkins University, University of Maryland, College Park, Industrial Research Institute of Ishikawa, University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Papers
95
Total Citations
2,984
H-Index
26
About
Axel Krieger is a pioneering roboticist and biomedical engineer whose work sits at the transformative intersection of autonomous surgery, medical robotics, and artificial intelligence. Best known for developing the Smart Tissue Anastomosis Robot (STAR), Krieger has spent over a decade systematically advancing the frontier of autonomous soft tissue surgery—one of medicine's most technically demanding challenges. His landmark 2016 paper on supervised autonomous robotic soft tissue surgery (600 citations) and his 2022 demonstration of fully autonomous laparoscopic intestinal anastomosis (346 citations) represent watershed moments in surgical robotics, showing that machines can perform complex procedures with precision independent of individual surgeon skill. Earlier in his career, Krieger made significant contributions to MRI-compatible robotic systems for guided prostate intervention, developing actuated platforms that successfully entered clinical trials. More recently, he has explored AI-driven surgical frameworks, including language-conditioned imitation learning for hierarchical autonomous surgery, and examined medical robots' critical role during the COVID-19 pandemic. With key publications accumulating nearly 1,800 citations collectively, Krieger's body of work is reshaping how researchers and clinicians envision the future of safe, consistent, and accessible surgical care worldwide.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Supervised autonomous robotic soft tissue surgery600 citations · 2016
- 2Autonomous robotic laparoscopic surgery for intestinal anastomosis346 citations · 2022
- 3Artificial intelligence meets medical robotics180 citations · 2023
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- 7MRI Compatibility of Robot Actuation Techniques – A Comparative Study97 citations · 2008
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