A robot developed by a Taiwanese doctoral candidate in Belgium and his research team has won acclaim for its ability to perform minimally invasive surgery precisely and with more dexterity than a currently available system.
“Medical robots will inevitably become standard equipment in medical institutions in the future,” the robot’s developer Tang Hsiao-wei (湯孝威) said.
He said the Da Vinci Surgical System is currently the only robotic system being used for minimally invasive surgery.
One drawback of the Da Vinci system is that its robotic arms need a lot of maneuvering room, Tang said.
The Vesalius robot, created by Tang’s team under the sponsorship of Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, allows better control of robotic arm movements and provides greater dexterity.
The Vesalius system won second place in the Start Academy business plan competition for university students in Belgium and the top prize in the competition’s Best Commercial Business Plan category.
One of the other two members on Tang’s team, Taiwanese student Huang Hsin-fu (黃新富), said their plan’s success in the competition indicated that the device has gained the recognition of Belgium’s business sector.
Tang, who hails from Tainan County, has been studying at K.U. Leuven for 10 years as an international exchange student.
The third member of the team is Belgian doctoral student Thierry Janssens.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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