These are the finalists of the KUKA Innovation Award 2025

Gentler operations on the spine, better screening for vascular diseases, a robotic assistant for orthopaedics or a robot-controlled, portable MRI scanner: five international teams have made it to the final of the KUKA Innovation Award with their robotics ideas for the future of medicine. The winner will receive €20,000 in prize money.

New technologies are increasingly finding their way into operating theaters, hospitals and rehabilitation centers. They can compensate for bottlenecks, enable gentler treatment or better prevention. The motto of the KUKA Innovation Award 2025 is therefore "Medical Robotics Challenge 2.0".

"Robotics will be increasingly used in the healthcare sector in the coming years and will open up countless new possibilities for the benefit of patients," says Axel Weber, Vice President of the Medical Robotics business unit at KUKA. "This is also demonstrated by the ideas for the Medical Robotics Challenge 2.0 that we received from all over the world. Five teams particularly impressed the jury with their robotics concepts for improving preventive care, medical treatment or surgical procedures."

KUKA Innovation Award 2025: What happens next  

For the duration of the competition, KUKA will provide the finalists with a collaborative robot that can be extended with an NDI tracking system. The sensitive LBR Med is specially adapted to medical requirements and is particularly suitable for versatile assistance systems in medical technology thanks to its ability for human-robot collaboration. The final teams will present their concepts to an international audience of trade fair visitors, the media and investors at a major trade fair in 2025. The jury will then select the winner of the 20,000 euro innovation prize.