Thematic Session 10

THEMATIC SESSION #10

Sara Moccia

Università degli Studi "G. d'Annunzio" Chieti – Pescara

• sara.moccia@unich.it

Emanuele Frontoni

University of Macerata, Co-Director VRAI Vision. Robotics & Artificial Intelligence Lab

• emanuele.frontoni@unimc.it

Laura Cercenelli

eDIMESLab - Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna

• laura.cercenelli@unibo.it

Emanuela Marcelli

eDIMESLab - Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna

• emanuela.marcelli@unibo.it

Stefano Mazzocchetti

eDIMESLab - Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Computer Vision, and Augmented Reality (AR) is transforming the landscape of Computer-Assisted Intervention (CAI), enhancing precision, efficiency, and decision-making in surgical procedures. AI-powered algorithms and computer vision enable real-time image processing, automated object detection, and predictive analytics, while AR enhances intraoperative visualization by overlaying digital information onto the surgical field. Despite the recent advancements of these technologies, several challenges remain, including data interoperability, computational requirements, regulatory barriers, and the clinical adoption of these tools.

This thematic session aims to bring together interdisciplinary experts to discuss state-of-the-art research, explore practical applications, and identify strategies to accelerate the adoption of AI, Computer Vision, and AR in Computer-Assisted Intervention. The session will cover a broad range of surgical applications, including minimally invasive surgery, robotic surgery, open surgery, and interventional procedures such as robotic ultrasound-guided therapies for tumor ablation, endovascular interventions, image-guided biopsy, percutaneous thermal ablation, and catheter-based cardiac procedures.

Topics of interest for submission include, but are not limited to:

• Intraoperative Augmented Reality guidance;
• Computer-aided surgery;
• 3D computer vision;
• Deep learning algorithms;
• Surgical data science;
• Clinical translation;
• Minimally-invasive surgery;
• Robotic surgery;
• Visualization techniques;
• Rendering techniques;
• Image registration;
• Medical imaging analysis.

Sara Moccia received the M.Sc. degree cum laude in Biomedical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano in 2014, and the European Ph.D. degree cum laude in Bioengineering from Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia in 2018. During her PhD, she was hosted at the German Cancer Research Center. She was Postdoctoral Researcher at Università Politecnica delle Marche until 2021, when she became Assistant Professor at Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (SSSA), Italy. She is currently Associate Professor in Bioengineering at Università degli Studi "G. d'Annunzio" Chieti – Pescara. The aim of her research activities is to unlock the potential of deep learning for the analysis of a wide range of medical images to support clinicians during the actual clinical and surgical procedures.
For her research, she received the "Gruppo Nazionale di Bioingegneria & Patron" Award for her Ph.D. thesis. In 2021, she was granted a L'Oréal Italia for Women and Science in collaboration with the Italian National Commission for UNESCO fellowship. She has been participating in several national and international research projects as unit leader and is currently PI for a FISA (Fondo Italiano Scienze Applicate) project. So far, she had scientific responsibility for about 1.5 M€ research funds. She is author of more than 50 peer-reviewed ISI journal papers, including Medical Image Analysis and IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering. She serves as Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Medical Robotics and Bionics, and Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing.

Emanuele Frontoni is a Full Professor of computer science with the University of Macerata and the Co-Director of the VRAI Vision Robotics & Artificial Intelligence Lab. He is Affiliated Researcher at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Genoa, Italy (https://inbot.iit.it/). Since 2022, he has been the Scientific Director of the Center for Scientific Research and Technological Innovation in the Neurological Field, NemoLab, at Niguarda Hospital in Milan, Italy (https://nemolab.it/). His research interests include computer vision and artificial intelligence with applications in robotics, video analysis, human behavior analysis, extended reality and digital humanities. He is the author of over 300 international articles and collaborates with numerous national and international companies in technology transfer and innovation activities. Since 2021, he has been included in the annual "World's Top 2% Scientists" list curated by Stanford University and Elsevier, which lists the top 2% of the world's most cited scientists within the "Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing" category. He has been Program Chair or General Chair of various international conferences and summer schools (e.g. IEEE / ASME MESA Mechatronic Embedded System & Applications 2016 and 2017, IEEE ECMR European Conference on Mobile Robotics 2017, BigDat 2020, DeepLearn 2021) and co-organizer of many international workshops (eg DeepRetail @ ICPR 2020, D2CH @ CVPR 2021, AI4DH @ ICIAP 2022). He is also involved in several national and international technology transfer projects in the fields of AI, Deep Learning, data interoperability, cloud-based technologies, and big multimedia data analysis, extended reality and digital humanities. He is a member of the European Association for Artificial Intelligence, the European AI Alliance, and the International Association for Pattern Recognition. He served as expert for the EU Commission in the AI H2020 and Horizon Europe Calls and as co-speaker of the European IPEI CIS (Important Project of Common European Interest - Cloud Infrastructure and Services) for the Data Exchange & AI services of the next generation of European Cloud & Edge Services.

Laura Cercenelli graduated in biomedical engineering from the Politecnico di Milano and received a Ph.D. in electromagnetism and bioengineering from the Marche Polytechnic University. She has long experience as a Post-doctoral Researcher at the School of Medicine of the University of Bologna and she is currently adjunct professor of Computer Science at the University of Bologna.
Her research focuses on sensors and devices for cardiac function monitoring, with recent interests in digital technologies applied to medicine. She has developed expertise in 3D modeling, 3D printing, and virtual and augmented reality for surgical applications, including pre-operative planning, intraoperative guidance, and training. Additionally, she specializes in designing personalized surgical instruments and implants. She has been involved in the HORIZON 2020 Project VOSTARS (Video and Optical See Through Augmented Reality Surgical Systems) under Grant Call ICT-29-2016. She is the author/co-author of more than 70 scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals, and she is co-inventor of 5 US, 5 European, and 9 Italian patents.

Emanuela Marcelli graduated with honors in Electronic Engineering at the University of Ancona. She is currently Associate Professor at the Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences (DIMEC) of the University of Bologna, SSD Industrial Bioengineering (IBIO-01/A Bioengineering, ex ING-IND/34). From November 2015 to June 2021 she was Deputy Director of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine Department (DIMES), University of Bologna.
Since 2019 she is scientific leader of the Implantable Medical Devices Unit of the Health Sciences and Technologies-Interdepartmental Center for Industrial Research of University of Bologna. Since 2011 she is Director of the Laboratory of Bioengineering, and since 2019 she is in charge of eDIMES Lab, an in-hospital laboratory focused on advanced digital technologies for supporting clinical research, practice, and medical education. Since 2024, she has coordinated the PhD program in Surgical Sciences and Innovative Technologies. Her research focuses on 3D technologies for patient-specific modeling, customized surgical tools, virtual and augmented reality for intraoperative guidance, and AI-based computer-aided diagnosis in medical imaging. All these activities were carried out in strict cooperation with clinicians from different surgical specialties of the School of Medicine, operating at IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna. Prof. Marcelli has authored over 110 publications and holds 32 patents, primarily in innovative cardiac technologies.

Stefano Mazzocchetti received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in automation engineering from the University of Bologna, Italy. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree at the eDIMES Lab, Laboratory of Bioengineering, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna.
From 2022 to 2023, he served as a Research Fellow at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering (DISI) of the University of Bologna. His research interests include medical imaging analysis, 3D computer vision, and augmented reality in minimally invasive surgeries.