Weihua Tong

Papers

Total Citations

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About

Weihua Tong is a leading researcher in the field of robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery (RMIS), with a focus on optimizing surgical workflows through automation and intelligent planning. Her work addresses critical preoperative and intraoperative challenges, particularly in pose optimization and port placement—key factors that directly influence robot performance and surgical quality. In her highly cited 2017 study on cholecystectomy, Tong developed a method to determine optimal robot positioning and port locations, laying foundational groundwork for safer and more efficient RMIS procedures. Building on this, her 2020 research advanced the frontier of surgical autonomy by tackling autonomous suturing task assignment—a complex problem involving multi-instrument coordination that goes beyond single-instrument movement planning. By proposing a systematic method for distributing suturing tasks among robotic tools, Tong’s work moves the field closer to truly autonomous surgical systems. With her papers accumulating citations from peers in surgical robotics and computer-assisted intervention, Tong is recognized for bridging the gap between theoretical automation and practical clinical application, making her a notable contributor to the future of smart operating rooms.