Michael Figl

About

Michael Figl is a biomedical engineer and medical imaging researcher whose work sits at the intersection of surgical robotics, image-guided interventions, and computed tomography. He rose to prominence through his pioneering contributions to robot-assisted biopsy systems, developing and validating robotic platforms for both ultrasound-guided and CT-guided procedures — work that collectively garnered over 110 citations and demonstrated that robotic targeting could achieve clinically meaningful accuracy in phantom and early experimental settings. His research extended naturally into percutaneous interventions more broadly, establishing foundational frameworks for robotic guidance that influenced subsequent generations of interventional radiology tools. Figl also made significant contributions to cardiac surgery, proposing augmented reality and image guidance systems for totally endoscopic coronary artery bypass procedures, addressing the formidable challenge of non-rigid tissue deformation in a beating-heart environment. A recurring theme throughout his career is patient safety: his risk analysis framework for biopsy robots underscored that clinical adoption depends as much on safety engineering and workflow integration as on technical performance. More recently, his comprehensive review of source-detector trajectory optimization in cone-beam CT (46 citations) signals continued relevance in modern imaging science, reflecting a career-long commitment to advancing precision, safety, and intelligence in image-guided medicine.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Robot-assisted biopsy using ultrasound guidance: initial results from in vitro tests

   66 citations · 2004
2. 2
   Robot-Assisted Biopsy Using Computed Tomography-Guidance

   47 citations · 2005
3. 3
   Source-detector trajectory optimization in cone-beam computed tomography: a comprehensive review on today’s state-of-the-art

   46 citations · 2022
4. 4
   Image guidance for robotic minimally invasive coronary artery bypass

   39 citations · 2009
5. 5
   Robotic guidance for percutaneous interventions

   36 citations · 2003
6. 6
   Risk analysis and safety assessment in surgical robotics: A case study on a biopsy robot

   28 citations · 2005
7. 7
   Image Guidance for Robotic Minimally Invasive Coronary Artery Bypass

   6 citations · 2008
8. 8
   Augmented reality image guidance for minimally invasive coronary artery bypass

   6 citations · 2008
9. 9
   Evaluation of a robotic targeting device for interventional radiology

   5 citations · 2004
10. 10
    Interactive localisator for percutaneous interventions

    4 citations · 2003

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links