Jun.-Prof. Dr. Franziska Mathis-Ullrich

Assistant Professor for Medical Robotics
Room: 119
CS 40.28
Phone: +49 721 608-44052
Fax: +49 721 608-47141
franziska ullrich ∂does-not-exist.kit edu

Engler-Bunte-Ring 8
76131 Karlsruhe

Research Interests

Minimally-invasive medical robots
Softrobotic systems
Artificial intelligence for medical applications
Robot-assisted surgery
Microrobotics

Short Biography

Franziska Mathis-Ullrich is Assistant Professor at the of the Institute for Anthropomatics and Robotics (IAR) at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Director of the Medical Robotics Group since 2019. She started her technological journey by pursuing her B.Sc. in mechanical engineering and subsequently consolidated her robotics education with a M.Sc. in robotics, systems, and control at ETH Zurich in Switzerland. During that time, she gained complementary practical experience during several academic and industrial stays abroad at the Australian Center for Field Robotics (Australia), ABB Corporate Research (Sweden), MTU Maintenance (China), and ABB (Switzerland).

In 2016, Franziska Mathis-Ullrich completed her doctorate at the Multi-Scale Robotics Lab (MSRL) at ETH Zurich. Her research focused on the development of several tethered and untethered microrobotic devices to assist in ophthalmic surgery. Subsequently (2016-2018), Franziska worked as a Post-doctoral Fellow at the Multi-Scale Robotics Lab (MSRL) at ETH Zurich and as CEO and co-founder of the startup company Ophthorobotics, where she was highly passionate about the development and commercialization of the worldwide first system that automatically injects medication into the eye for the safe and efficient treatment of chronic ocular diseases.
Franziska’s research interests focus on minimally-invasive medical robots, especially utilizing softrobotic systems, as well as the translation of medical processes towards robot- and KI-assisted surgeries.

For her work, Franziska has received the IEEE ICRA Best Paper Award in Medical Robotics (2014), the IEEE BioRob Best Student Paper Award (2016) and won with her team the first prize of the ICRA Microassembly Challenge (2015). Furthermore, she made it among the finalists of the German Thesis Award (Deutscher Studienpreis) and made it onto the prestigious Forbes "30 under 30" list (both 2017).

Patents

Ophthorobotics AG, Intraocular injection system and methods for controlling such a system, WO2017005277 A1, granted: January 2017
Ophthorobotics AG, Stimuli-responsive hydrogel and method for a piercing intervention into a mammalian eye, PCT/EP2017/057772, filed: March 2017

Invited Talks

Roboter in der Medizin am Beispiel des Auges, Efficiency Club Basel, Basel, Switzerland, August 2018
Behavioral Change of Surgeons due to Medical Robotics, Swiss Medtech Insight, Zurich, Switzerland, July 2018
Fighting Age-Related Blindness: Automated Injections into the Eye, Workshop lecture: Advances in Image-Guided Ophthalmic Interventions, Hamlyn Symposium on Medical Robotics, London, UK, June 2018
Nanorobots and the Eye (Keynote Lecture), Montchoisi 3rd Annual Glaucoma Symposium, Geneva, Switzerland, June 2018
Fighting Age-Related Blindness, Women in Digital Basel Meetup, Basel, Switzerland, April 2018
The future role of robot-assisted surgery in Ophthalmology, Emerging Technologies in Medicine (ETIM2018), Artificial intelligence and robotics, Essen, Germany, Feb. 2018
Ein Roboter, der ins Auge sticht – Automatisierte Injektionenn in das Auge, Rotary Club Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, January 2018
Ein Roboter, der ins Auge sticht, Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany, January 2018
Wissenschaft aus der Fiktion – Der robotische Augenarzt, Naturwissenschaftliche Gesellschaft Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland, December 2017
Ein Roboter, der ins Auge sticht, Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany, November 2017
Roboter Winzlinge revolutionieren die Medizin, Lions Club Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, September 2017
Seeing the Surface, NTN Innovative Surfaces Annual Event 2017, EMPA, Dübendorf, Switzerland, September 2017
OP-Robotik: Fortschritte in der IVOM Therapie, International Retina Council, Münster, Germany, September 2017
Ein Roboter, der ins Auge sticht, Schweizerische Management Gesellschaft Forum, Zurich, Switzerland, September 2017
Panel discussion, SAP Forum, Basel, Switzerland, April 2017
Innovative Medizinalrobotik für die Augenchirurgie, Trendtage Gesundheit, Luzern, Switzerland, March 2017
Automated Intravitreal Injection System for the Efficient Treatment of AMD, European Association for Vision and Eye Research (EVER) Symposium, Nice, France, October 2016.
Recent Progress in Microrobots for Ophthalmic Therapies, European Association for Vision and Eye Research (EVER) Symposium, Nice, France, October 2016.
Microrobots in Medicine, VIII. Industrial Automatics Seminar, University of Cauca, Popayán, Columbia, May 2016.
Microrobots in Medicine, Nueva Granada Military University, Bogota, Colombia, May 2016.
Microrobots in Medicine, Universidad Central, Bogota, Colombia, May 2016.
Roboter in meinem Körper, Children’s Lecture (Kindervorlesung) Science City, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, March 2016.
Automatisierte Intravitreale Therapie, ITS Industrie- und Technozentrum Schaffhausen, Schaffhausen, Switzerland, March 2016.
Microrobots in Ophthalmology, Premium Cataract Surgery Symposium, The Health Sciences School of Universidade do Minho, Braga, Portugal, January 2016.
Mikroroboter für minimal-invasive intraokulare Chirurgie, Ophthalmology Departement University Hospital Zurich (USZ), Zurich, Switzerland, November 2015.
Mikroroboter in der Medizin, Hochschule für Technik Rapperswil (HSR), Rapperswil, Switzerland, November 2015.
Mikroroboter für minimal-invasive intraokulare Chirurgie, DOG Symposium (German Ophthalmology Association), Berlin, Germany, October 2015.
Roboter in meinem Körper, Children’s Lecture (Kindervorlesung) Scientifica, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, September 2015.
Nano-Roboter: Kleiner geht’s kaum!, Annual Meeting Swiss Engineering Fachgruppe für Elektronik und Informatik, Zurich, Switzerland, November 2014

Publications

Compliant Hall-Effect Sensor Array for Passive Magnetic Instrument Tracking
Fischer, N.; Kriechbaum, J.; Berwanger, D.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2023. IEEE Sensors Letters, 7 (3), 1–4. doi:10.1109/LSENS.2023.3250971

LapSeg3D: Weakly Supervised Semantic Segmentation of Point Clouds Representing Laparoscopic Scenes
Alt, B.; Kunz, C.; Katic, D.; Younis, R.; Jäkel, R.; Müller-Stich, B.; Wagner, M.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2022. 2022 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 5265–5270, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). doi:10.1109/IROS47612.2022.9981178

Sim-To-Real Transfer for Visual Reinforcement Learning of Deformable Object Manipulation for Robot-Assisted Surgery
Scheikl, P. M.; Tagliabue, E.; Gyenes, B.; Wagner, M.; Dall’Alba, D.; Fiorini, P.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2022. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 8 (2), 560–567. doi:10.1109/LRA.2022.3227873

Capacitive Proximity Sensor for Non-Contact Endoscope Localization
Marzi, C.; Alagi, H.; Rau, O.; Hampe, J.; Korvink, J. G.; Hein, B.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2022. 2022 International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 9614–9620, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). doi:10.1109/ICRA46639.2022.9811734

Quality-dependent Deep Learning for Safe Autonomous Guidewire Navigation
Ritter, J.; Karstensen, L.; Langejürgen, J.; Hatzl, J.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.; Uhl, C.
2022. Current Directions in Biomedical Engineering, 8 (1), 21–24. doi:10.1515/cdbme-2022-0006

Annotation-efficient learning of surgical instrument activity in neurosurgery
Philipp, M.; Alperovich, A.; Lisogorov, A.; Gutt-Will, M.; Mathis, A.; Saur, S.; Raabe, A.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2022. Current Directions in Biomedical Engineering, 8 (1), 30–33. doi:10.1515/cdbme-2022-0008

Deep automatic segmentation of brain tumours in interventional ultrasound data
Zeineldin, R. A.; Pollok, A.; Mangliers, T.; Karar, M. E.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.; Burgert, O.
2022. Current Directions in Biomedical Engineering, 8 (1), 133–137. doi:10.1515/cdbme-2022-0034

Augmented Reality-based Robot Control for Laparoscopic Surgery
Kunz, C.; Maierhofer, P.; Gyenes, B.; Franke, N.; Younis, R.; Müller-Stich, B.-P.; Wagner, M.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2022. Current Directions in Biomedical Engineering, 8 (1), 54–57. doi:10.1515/cdbme-2022-0014

Ensemble CNN Networks for GBM Tumors Segmentation Using Multi-parametric MRI
Zeineldin, R. A.; Karar, M. E.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.; Burgert, O.
2021. doi:10.48550/arXiv.2112.06554

Ensemble CNN Networks for GBM Tumors Segmentation Using Multi-parametric MRI
Zeineldin, R. A.; Karar, M. E.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.; Burgert, O.
2022. Brainlesion: Glioma, Multiple Sclerosis, Stroke and Traumatic Brain Injuries – 7th International Workshop, BrainLes 2021, Held in Conjunction with MICCAI 2021, Virtual Event, September 27, 2021, Revised Selected Papers, Part I. Ed.: A. Crimi, 473–483, Springer International Publishing. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-08999-2_41

Robotic Sensorized Gastroendoscopy with Wireless Single-Hand Control
García, G.; Fischer, N.; Marzi, C.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2022. Current Directions in Biomedical Engineering, 8 (1), 66–69. doi:10.1515/cdbme-2022-0017

Automated Linear and Non-Linear Path Planning for Neurosurgical Interventions
Peikert, S.; Kunz, C.; Fischer, N.; Hlavac, M.; Pala, A.; Schneider, M.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2022. 2022 International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 7731–7737, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). doi:10.1109/ICRA46639.2022.9811679

Learning-based autonomous vascular guidewire navigation without human demonstration in the venous system of a porcine liver
Karstensen, L.; Ritter, J.; Hatzl, J.; Pätz, T.; Langejürgen, J.; Uhl, C.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2022. International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery, 17 (11), 2033–2040. doi:10.1007/s11548-022-02646-8

Segmentation of the mouse skull for MRI guided transcranial focused ultrasound therapy planning
Hopp, T.; Springer, L.; Gross, C.; Grudzenski-Theis, S.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.; Ruiter, N.
2022. C. A. Linte & J. H. Siewerdsen (Eds.), Medical Imaging 2022: Image-Guided Procedures, Robotic Interventions, and Modeling. Ed.: C. A. Linte, Art.-Nr.: 120341P, SPIE. doi:10.1117/12.2607371

Autonomous Planning and Intraoperative Augmented Reality Navigation for Neurosurgery
Kunz, C.; Hlavac, M.; Schneider, M.; Pala, A.; Henrich, P.; Jickeli, B.; Worn, H.; Hein, B.; Wirtz, R.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2021. IEEE Transactions on Medical Robotics and Bionics, 3 (3), 738–749. doi:10.1109/TMRB.2021.3091184

From Chairs to Brains: Customizing Optical Flow for Surgical Activity Localization
Philipp, M.; Bacher, N.; Saur, S.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.; Bruhn, A.
2022. IEEE ISBI 2022 International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging, 28–31th March 2022, Kolkata, India. doi:10.1109/ISBI52829.2022.9761704

Dynamic CNNs Using Uncertainty To Overcome Domain Generalization for Surgical Instrument Localization
Philipp, M.; Alperovich, A.; Gutt-Will, M.; Mathis, A.; Saur, S.; Raabe, A.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2022. IEEE Winter Conference on Applications of Computer Vision (WACV 2022), Waikoloa, Hawaii, January 4-8, 2022, 3612–3621, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). doi:10.1109/WACV51458.2022.00179

Localizing neurosurgical instruments across domains and in the wild
Philipp, M.; Alperovich, A.; Gutt-Will, M.; Mathis, A.; Saur, S.; Raabe, A.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2021. Medical Imaging with Deep Learning : MIDL 2021 : Lübeck, Germany, 7 July 2021, 581–595

Cooperative Assistance in Robotic Surgery through Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning
Scheikl, P. M.; Gyenes, B.; Davitashvili, T.; Younis, R.; Schulze, A.; Müller-Stich, B. P.; Neumann, G.; Wagner, M.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2021. 2021 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Prague, Czech Republic, 27 Sept.-1 Oct. 2021, 1859–1864, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). doi:10.1109/IROS51168.2021.9636193

Continuous Feature-Based Tracking of the Inner Ear for Robot-Assisted Microsurgery
Marzi, C.; Prinzen, T.; Haag, J.; Klenzner, T.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2021. Frontiers in Surgery, 8, Article no: 742160. doi:10.3389/fsurg.2021.742160

A Hybrid Deep Registration of MR Scans to Interventional Ultrasound for Neurosurgical Guidance
Zeineldin, R. A.; Karar, M. E.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.; Burgert, O.
2021. Machine Learning in Medical Imaging: 12th International Workshop, MLMI 2021, Held in Conjunction with MICCAI 2021, Strasbourg, France, September 27, 2021, Proceedings. Ed.: C. Lian, 586–595, Springer Verlag. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-87589-3_60

Flexible Facile Tactile Sensor for Smart Vessel Phantoms
Fischer, N.; Scheikl, P.; Marzi, C.; Galindo-Blanco, B.; Kisilenko, A.; Müller-Stich, B. P.; Wagner, M.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2021. Current directions in biomedical engineering, 7 (1), 87–91. doi:10.1515/cdbme-2021-1019

Facile Testbed for Robotic X-ray based Endovascular Interventions
Karstensen, L.; Pätz, T.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.; Stallkamp, J.
2021. Current directions in biomedical engineering, 7 (1), 121–125. doi:10.1515/cdbme-2021-1026

Biocompatible Soft Material Actuator for Compliant Medical Robots
Marzi, C.; Fischer, N.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2021. Current directions in biomedical engineering, 7 (1), 58–62. doi:10.1515/cdbme-2021-1013

Synthetic data generation for optical flow evaluation in the neurosurgical domain
Philipp, M.; Bacher, N.; Nienhaus, J.; Hauptmann, L.; Lang, L.; Alperovich, A.; Gutt-Will, M.; Mathis, A.; Saur, S.; Raabe, A.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2021. Current directions in biomedical engineering, 7 (1), 67–71. doi:10.1515/cdbme-2021-1015

Slicer-DeepSeg: Open-Source Deep Learning Toolkit for Brain Tumour Segmentation
Zeineldin, R. A.; Weimann, P.; Karar, M. E.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.; Burgert, O.
2021. Current directions in biomedical engineering, 7 (1), 30–34. doi:10.1515/cdbme-2021-1007

Multimodal Risk-Map for Navigation Planning in Neurosurgical Interventions
Gerst, M.; Kunz, C.; Henrich, P.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2021. New Trends in Medical and Service Robotics – MESROB 2020, [International Workshop on New Trends in Medical and Service Robots, Basel]. Ed.: G. Rauter, 183–191, Springer International Publishing. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-58104-6_21

Augmented reality–assisted ventriculostomy
Schneider, M.; Kunz, C.; Pal’a, A.; Wirtz, C. R.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.; Hlaváč, M.
2021. Neurosurgical focus, 50 (1), Art.-Nr.: E16. doi:10.3171/2020.10.FOCUS20779

Multimodal Risk-based Path Planning for Neurosurgical Interventions
Kunz, C.; Gerst, M.; Henrich, P.; Schneider, M.; Hlavac, M.; Pala, A.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2021. Journal of medical devices, 15 (1), Art.Nr. 011108. doi:10.1115/1.4049550

Autonomous guidewire navigation using neural networks
Carstensen, L.; Behr, T.; Pusch, T.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.; Stallkamp, J.
2020. Biomedical engineering, 65 (s1), S61

Intraoperative motion patterns of surgical microscopes in neurosurgery
Philipp, M.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2020. Biomedical engineering, 65 (s1), S58-S62

Path Planning for Robotic Camera Guidance in Laparoscopy
Scheikl, P. M.; Zhebin, J.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2020. Biomedical engineering, 65 (s1)

A Simulation Environment for Visual Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning in Robot-Assisted Laparoscopy
Scheikl, P. M.; Scheler, U.; Franke, N.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2020. Biomedical engineering, 65 (s1)

Intraoperative Data Acquisition through Visual Sensing of Surgical Workflow
Marzi, C.; Raczkowsky, J.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2019. Tagungsband - 18. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Computer- und Roboterassistierte Chirurgie e.V. (CURAC 2019). Hrsg.: O. Burgert, 171–172, Hochschule

Towards automated correction of brain shift using deep deformable magnetic resonance imaging-intraoperative ultrasound (MRI-iUS) registration
Zeineldin, R. A.; Karar, M. E.; Coburger, J.; Wirtz, C. R.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.; Burgert, O.
2020. Current directions in biomedical engineering, 6 (1). doi:10.1515/cdbme-2020-0039

Augmented Reality in the Operating Room for Neurosurgical Interventions
Kunz, C.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.; Hein, B.
2020. The Upper-Rhine Artificial Intelligence Symposium, 13th May, Karlsruhe

Multimodal Risk-Map for Navigation Planning in Neurosurgical Interventions
Kunz, C.; Gerst, M.; Henrich, P.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2021. New Trends in Medical and Service Robotics. Eds: G. Rauter, P. C. Cattin, A Zam, R. Riener, G. Carbone, D. Pisla, Springer

Infrared marker tracking with the HoloLens for neurosurgical interventions
Kunz, C.; Maurer, P.; Kees, F.; Henrich, P.; Marzi, C.; Hlaváč, M.; Schneider, M.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2020. Current directions in biomedical engineering, 6 (1), Art.-Nr.: 20200027. doi:10.1515/cdbme-2020-0027

Deep learning for semantic segmentation of organs and tissues in laparoscopic surgery
Scheikl, P. M.; Laschewski, S.; Kisilenko, A.; Davitashvili, T.; Müller, B.; Capek, M.; Müller-Stich, B. P.; Wagner, M.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2020. Current directions in biomedical engineering, 6 (1), Article no: 20200016. doi:10.1515/cdbme-2020-0016

Autonomous guidewire navigation in a two dimensional vascular phantom
Karstensen, L.; Behr, T.; Pusch, T. P.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.; Stallkamp, J.
2020. Current directions in biomedical engineering, 6 (1), Art.Nr. 20200007. doi:10.1515/cdbme-2020-0007

Analyzing Natural Language Commands during Laparoscopic Surgery for Robotic Camera Guidance
Scheikl, P. M.; Nigl, B.; Kunz, C.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2019. 18. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Computer- und Roboterassistierte Chirurgie e.V. - Tagungsband. Reutlingen, 19 - 21 September 2019. Hrsg.: O. Burgert, 29–31, Hochschule Reutlingen

Fast Volumetric Auto-Segmentation of Head CT Images in Emergency Situations for Ventricular Punctures
Kunz, C.; Henrich, P.; Scheikl, P. M.; Hlavac, M.; Schneider, M.; Heinz, W.; Hein, B.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2019. CURAC 2019 - 18. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Computer- und Roboterassistierte Chirurgie, Reutlingen, 19. - 21. September 2019. Hrsg.: O. Burgert, 41–46, Hochschule

Collaborative Control for Surgical Robots
Scheikl, P. M.; Lanz, D.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2019, May. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation - Workshop: Open Challenges and State-of-the-Art in Control System Design and Technology Development for Surgical Robotic Systems (ICRA 2019), Montreal, Canada, May 20–24, 2019

A Mechatronic Interface for using Oblique-Viewing Endoscopes with Light Weight Robots for Laparoscopic Surgery
Petani, L.; Scheikl, P. M.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2019, May. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation - Workshop: Open Challenges and State-of-the-Art in Control System Design and Technology Development for Surgical Robotic Systems (ICRA 2019), Montreal, Canada, May 20–24, 2019

Evaluation of Methods for Semantic Segmentation of Endoscopic Images
Bopp, B.; Scheikl, P. M.; Kunz, C.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2019, May. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation - Workshop: Open Challenges and State-of-the-Art in Control System Design and Technology Development for Surgical Robotic Systems (ICRA 2019), Montreal, Canada, May 20–24, 2019

Collaborative Control for Surgical Robots
Scheikl, P. M.; Lanz, D.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2019, May

A Mechatronic Interface for using Oblique-Viewing Endoscopes with Light Weight Robots for Laparoscopic Surgery
Petani, L.; Scheikl, P. M.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2019, May

Evaluation of Methods for Semantic Segmentation of Endoscopic Images
Bopp, B.; Scheikl, P. M.; Kunz, C.; Mathis-Ullrich, F.
2019