WORCESTER, MA — Worcester Polytechnic Institute will expand a facility designed to move medical robotics technology from research labs into health care settings.
WPI received $2 million from the Healey-Driscoll administration to establish a Medical Innovation and Training Center at its PracticePoint facility, according to the state's announcement. The university will develop the center with UMass Chan Medical School to provide specialized space for testing medical robots, connect developers with clinicians and train nurses and medical residents to use robotic technology.
The grant is part of $6.6 million awarded through the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative's RoboBench program. The program supports shared facilities, equipment and manufacturing resources intended to help robotics companies test products and prepare them for production.
WPI said the center will bring engineers, entrepreneurs and clinicians into closer collaboration while addressing a shortage of facilities suited to medical robotics development.
"This investment will draw on the complementary strengths of WPI and UMass Chan Medical School, help address a critical gap in medical robotics commercialization and strengthen Central Massachusetts' role in the commonwealth's innovation economy," WPI Provost Andrew Sears said in a university announcement.
PracticePoint is WPI's life sciences research, development and training facility. It provides clinical environments and other resources for designing, prototyping, testing and evaluating health technologies and surgical innovations.
The state also awarded RoboBench grants to Boston University, MassRobotics and UMass Amherst. The four projects are expected to leverage more than $1.9 million in matching resources from academic and industry partners.
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