Bern, May 21, 2026.- On May 27, 2026, the ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research at the University of Bern will host «ARTORG Day 2026». Together with clinical and industrial partners, researchers from the fields of medicine, engineering and computer science will demonstrate how medical technology can improve the diagnosis, treatment and care of patients – from surgical robots and AI-powered image analysis to personalized implants.
How can artificial intelligence, robotics and organ-on-a-chip technologies make operations less invasive, diagnoses more precise and therapies more individualized – and how do such developments move from the laboratory to everyday clinical practice? These questions will be addressed at the «ARTORG Day 2026» on May 27, 2026, at Inselspital, Bern University Hospital. Clinicians, researchers and industry representatives will reflect on 18 years of ARTORG (an acronym for ARTificial ORGan). «The ARTORG was founded in 2008 to address a structural gap between medicine, engineering and clinical application,» explains Prof. Raphael Sznitman, Head of the Artificial Intelligence in Medical Imaging Laboratory and ARTORG Director. «From the beginning, the center was conceived not only as a biomedical engineering research institute, but as a translational center dedicated to bringing biomedical innovations into clinical practice and ultimately into real-world healthcare applications and the marketplace.» This public event will offer insights into current research projects, discuss the opportunities and challenges of modern medical technology, and highlight the importance of Bern as a location for medicine, research, and business.
Focus on interdisciplinary biomedical engineering
The ARTORG Day 2026 programme will showcase a variety of areas within the field of biomedical engineering including image-guided and robotic surgery, cardiovascular and respiratory systems, neuroscience, hearing and vision research, as well as biomaterials and personalized implants. Scientific lectures, poster sessions and demonstrations will present projects that are being developed in collaboration with Inselspital, Bern University Hospital and other partner institutions. «At the ARTORG Day, we want to show today’s close collaboration between engineering and medicine,» says Sznitman. «Our interdisciplinary teams are developing solutions that are directly geared towards the needs of patients and treating physicians – for example, by enabling more precise navigation in the operating theatre or by creating implants that can be individually adapted.» Young scientists are also at the heart of the event: students and doctoral candidates present their projects and show how they are trained at the interface of medicine, engineering and computer science.
Bridge between research, clinic and industry
ARTORG Day is a platform for exchange across disciplinary and institutional boundaries. Keynote speaker and ARTORG Scientific Board member Prof. Dr. Pascal Verdonck from the Ghent University in Belgium says: «What impresses me most about the ARTORG center is not only the scientific excellence, but also the ability to bring innovations into clinical practice.» In addition to contributions from university research, doctors and founders of start-ups that have emerged from the ARTORG center – such as Cascination AG – will report on joint projects and clinical studies. «Collaboration with Inselspital, industry partners and the Swiss Institute for Translational and Entrepreneurial Medicine (sitem-insel) in Bern is crucial to ensuring that new technologies find their way into the operating theatre or to the bedside, rather than getting stuck in the lab,» says Prof. Dr. Olivier Guenat, head of the Organs-on-Chip Technologies group at ARTORG and one of the organizers of ARTORG Day. «At the event, we want to illustrate this journey in practice, including the challenges that need to be overcome.»
The event is aimed at specialists from clinical practice, research, industry and healthcare policy as well as the general public.