Sofie (surgical robot)
SOFIE, short for Surgeon’s Operating Force-feedback Interface Eindhoven, is a surgical robot developed at Eindhoven University of Technology. It was created by Dr. Ir. Linda van den Bedem as part of her PhD and is the first robot to provide force feedback, so surgeons can feel what they are doing.
Unlike earlier robots, Sofie adds tactile feedback and has a more compact design. It uses a master-slave setup: the master console is the surgeon’s control station, kept away from the operating table, and the slave is a robotic arm system at the table. Communication between them runs over overhead data cables.
The slave has three independent manipulators: two for surgical tools and one for a camera. The arm frame is flexible, letting the surgeon choose the best angle to reach an area without moving the patient. The system delivers force feedback through the cables so the surgeon feels resistance and force.
Sofie’s design is smaller and cheaper than earlier robots and can be mounted close to the bed or clamped to it, moving with the patient. While not yet a commercial product, the design aims to be cheaper than the typical €1,000,000 price tag of some robots. In 2010, Van den Bedem was exploring commercial opportunities, with a possible market as early as 2016.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 02:41 (CET).