Prof. Dr. Andreas Melzer

Executive Director | Leader Research Area: Computer-Assisted Image-Guided Interventions

Background and Position

Education

• Study of Medicine and Dentistry in Mainz and Tübingen
• 1989 Graduation in Dentistry
• 1993 Graduation in Medicine
• 1998 Thesis (Dr. med.) “Image guided Access techniques” (summa cum laude), Betreuer: Dr. med. Dietrich Grönemeyer, Universität Witten/Herdecke, Germany

Medical Scientific Training and Positions (Forschung und Lehre)

• More than 35 years experiences in the development of: Medical technology for laparo-endoscopic surgery, Interventional radiology, Interventional and intraoperative MRI Image guided robotics, Surgical instrumentation, Surgical robotics, Nitinol devices – More than 200 patents and over 300 publications – Co-founder and partner of six start-up companies in the medical technology business – Consultant for major vendors in medicine
• 1986 – 1993 Technology Director at the Minimally Invasive Surgery Lab of Prof Gerhard Buess in Mainz and Tübingen, Germany
• 1993 – 2000 Training Radiology and Leader Interventional MRI research; Mülheim Radiology Institute University Witten-Herdecke, Germany
• 2000 – 2006 Clinical Position at the Dept. of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology and Dept. of Vascular Surgery at St. Mary’s Hospital Buer, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
• 1998 – 2006 Professor of Applied Biomedical Engineering C3/2
• 2003 – 2006 Founding Director and Chairman of the Board of the Institute for Medical Technologies and Management in Medicine INSITE, med. University of Applied Sciences Gelsenkirchen, Germany
• 2006 Professor of ‘Medical Technology and Head of Division (until 2014), Founding Director of the Institute for Medical Science and Technology (IMSaT) of the Universities Dundee and St Andrews, Scotland
• since 2006 Board member of the ‘Clinical Research Centre’ at Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee, UK
• 2007 – 2015 Director of the Joint Research Institute Medical Technology of the Northern Research Partnership (NRP) (Universities Aberdeen, Robert Gordon and Dundee)
• Since Sep 2014 Executive Director of ICCAS, Leipzig, Germany
• Since 2016 Reviewer at the Leipzig Ethics Commission
• 2015 – 2018 Full Professor 1000 Plan ‘Focused Ultrasound guided Therapy’ at Chongqing University of Technology, China

Honorary and Visiting Professorships

• Honorary Clinical Professor NHS Tayside, Scotland
• Visiting Professor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
• Visiting Professor at the Sheba Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel
• Visiting Professor at the Children’s National Medical Center, Washington, DC, US
• Visiting Professor 1000 Plan ‘Therapeutic Imaging’ at Chongqing University of Technology, China (since 2019)
• Visiting Professor by the National Cancer Center Graduate School of Cancer Science and Policy. Seoul, South Korea (since 2019)

Affiliations

• Professor of Computer Assisted Surgery and Director of ICCAS at the University of Leipzig, Germany
• Professor of Medical Technology and Founding Director of IMSaT at the University Dundee, UK
• Director of the Joint Research Institute Medical Technology of the NRP, UK
• Professor of focused ultrasound, surgery and drug delivery (1000 Plan), Chongqing University of Technology, Chongqing, China

Appointments

• General Secretary of the Society for Medical Innovation and Technology (SMIT): Conference President 2000 and 2006
• General Secretary of the ‘European Focused Ultrasound Society’ (EUFUS): Conference Chair 2017 and 2019
• Executive board member of the German Society for Biomedical Engineering (BMT) ‘Clinical Application’ (since 2018): Congress President BMT 2020,  20 Sept – 1^st Leipzig
• Fellow of the British ‘Academy of Medical Sciences’ (since 2019)

Awards

• Best Design Award – „Surgical Robot Challenge 2023“ – Hamlyn Symposium London 2023
• Merit Award- „Percutaneously Implantable MRI resonant heart valves“ -ESMRMB 2005 Basel.
• Merit Award Educational Exhibition- „MR/CT Compatible Robotics“– RSNA 2002
• Handwerkspreis Westfalen-Lippe “RF sealed sectional rolling door”- October 2002
• SMIT Technology Award, „MRI compatible Robotic System INNOMOTION“, SMIT 2000
• Young Investigator Award „Tactile Sensing“ World Congress of Endoscopic Surgery, Kyoto, 1994
• EAES Prize: Intelligent surgical instrument system ISIS EAES 1993, precursor DaVinvi (Intuitive)

Membership, Functions

Board Member / Chair:

• Advisory Board, German Society for Endoscopy and Imaging Techniques (DGE-BV) (since 2000)
• Advisory Board, German Society for Medical Technologies (DGBMT) (since 2001)
• Advisory Board, German Roof Association of Societies of Medical Technologies (DVMT) (1998 – 2012)
• Chairman of the board and general secretary Society for Medical Innovation and Technology, SMIT e. V. (since 1999)
• Chairman of the board European Focused Ultrasound Charitable Society EUFUS e.V. (since 2013)
• Chairman of the Advisory Board for Internal Affairs, High Tech Surgery Association (HTC) (since 2018)
• Council Member EAMBES since 2016, re-elected 2023 – 2025 (Councillor for Institutions, Industrial affairs professional organizations Committee Chair

Committee Chairman:

• ‘MRI Technology in Medicine’ Committee chair  at DGBMT (1998)
• ‘Endoscopic Surgery’ AA Committee on German Standards DIN (1990 – 1999)
• ‘MRI Terms and Definitions’ working group at Germans Standards DIN AA ‘Magnetic Resonance’
• ‘Microsystems in Medicine’ Committee 4.6. of GMM and VDE/VDI (Societies for electrical and mechanical Engineering) (1999 – 2005)
• Founder and Co chair Ultrasound Technology Committee DGBMT (since 2017)

Committee Member:

• European Association on Endoscopic Surgery (EAES) Technology Committee (1995 – 2015 Founder)
• ASTM-FDA working group MRI Safety (1996)
• DIN AA Radiology WG Magnetic Resonance Procedures (2000)
• CARS Program Committee (since 2006
• SMST Review Committee (since 1994)
• Hamlyn Symposium on Medical Robotics Program Committee (since 2011)
• DLR ESA Focus group Translation of Biomedical Engineering for Deep Space Mission (since 2019)Member of the ESA Focus Group Tropor and Hibernation for Mars Mission (since 2019)
• Founder and Member Robotics Committee DGBMT (since 2023)

Editorial Functions:

• Co-Editor in Chief Endoscopic Surgery and Allied Technologies ESAT (1993 – 1996)
• Technology Editor Surgical Endoscopy (1995 – 2003)
• Assistant Editor in Chief Minimally Invasive Therapy Allied Technologies (since 1996)
• Editorial Board Member of Life, MDPI, since 2022

Editorial Board:

• Endoskopie Heute Thieme Publisher (2005 – 2015)
• Computer aided Radiology and Surgery (since 2007)
• Editorial Board Surgical Endoscopy (since 2009)
• Videoendoscopic Surgery since 2010
• Life
• Frontiers Robotics and AI

Research Founding Council Reviewer:

• ERC LS7 panel member 2010 – 2018, maximum of election period
• SAP “Science after the Project” ERC Advanced  Grant evaluation Panel member (since 2019),
• Welcome Trust, UK MRC and EPSRC; Dutch, Norwegian, Italian and Polish Research Councils
• Reviewer at Dutch Research Council (NWO) 2012
• Reviewer at MDPI (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute) since 2021

Society Member:

• German Society for Endoscopy and Imaging Techniques (DGE-BV)
• German Society for Medical Technologies (VDE DGBMT)
• German Roof Association of Societies of Medical Technologies (DVMT)
• German Society of Radiology (DRG)
• European Association on Endoscopic Surgery (EAES)
• International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM)

Patents

> 200 Patents out of 35 families

Top Publications (out of  300 Peer Reviewed) and Inventions

1. Melzer A, et al “Intelligent Surgical Instrument System ISIS. Concept and Preliminary experimental application of components and prototypes” Endoscopic Surgery& Allied Techn. 1 (3) 165 – 170 (1993)
2. Ethicon EndoLoop (Melzer Buess Knot) Product Brochure Ethicon Endo Johnson and Johnson 1990
3. Melzer A, et al “Technology and principles of tomographic image-guided interventions and surgery” Surgical Endoscopy – Ultrasound and Interventional Techniques 11 (9) 946 – 95 (1997)
4. MR enhancing Stent, Heartvalve and Occluder Paten  United States Patent No. 6,280,385
5. Melzer A, Gutmann B, Remmele T, Wolf R, Lukoscheck A, Bock M, Bardenheuer H, and Fischer H, “INNOMOTION for percutaneous image-guided interventions” IEEE Eng. Med. Biol. Magazine 27 (3) 66 – 73 (2008)
6. Zangos S, Melzer A, Eichler K, Sadighi C, Thalhammer A, Bodelle B, Wolf R, Gruber-Rouh T, Proschek D, Hammerstingl R, Müller C, Mack MG, Vogl TJ.  MR-compatible assistance system for biopsy in a high-field-strength system: initial results in patients with suspicious prostate lesions.259(3):903-10 (2011)
7. EPFlex, 2012 and 2018 CE marked MR safe guide wire.
8. Eisma R, Gueorguieva M, Immel E, Toomey R, McLeod G, Soames R, Melzer A.  Liver displacement during ventilation in Thiel embalmed human cadavers – a possible model for research and training in minimally invasive therapies.Min Invasive Ther Allied Technol. 2013 Sep;22(5):291-6.
9. Karakitsios I, Dogadkin O, Le N, Melzer A.  Measurement of proton resonance frequency shift coefficient during MR-guided focused ultrasound on Thiel embalmed tissue. Magn Reson Med. 74:260–265 (2015)
10. Gourevich D, Hertzberg Y, Volovick A, Shafran Y, Navon G, Cochran S, Melzer A. Ultrasound-mediated targeted drug delivery generated by multifocal beam patterns: an in vitro study. Ultrasound Med Biol. 2013 Mar;39(3):507-14.
11. Gourevich D, Dogadkin O, Volovick A, Wang L, Gnaim J, Cochran S, Melzer A.  Ultrasound-mediated targeted drug delivery with a novel cyclodextrin-based drug carrier by mechanical and thermal mechanisms. J Control Release. 2013 Sep 28;170(3):316-24.
12. Démoré CE, Dahl PM, Yang Z, Glynne-Jones P, Melzer A, Cochran S, MacDonald MP, Spalding GC.  Acoustic tractor beam.  Phys Rev Lett. May 2;112(17) :174302 (2014) – 31 citations
13. Reich CM, Sattler B, Jochimsen TH, Unger M, Melzer L, Landgraf L, Barthel H, Sabri O, Melzer A. Practical setting and potential applications of interventions guided by PET/MRI. Q J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. März 2021;65(1):43–50.
14. Hu S, Zhang X, Unger M, Patties I, Melzer A, Landgraf L. Focused Ultrasound-Induced Cavitation Sensitizes Cancer Cells to Radiation Therapy and Hyperthermia. Cells. 3. Dezember 2020;9(12).
15. Köhler H, Jansen-Winkeln B, Maktabi M, Barberio M, Takoh J, Holfert N, Moulla Y, Niebisch S, Diana M, Neumuth T, Rabe SM, Chalopin C, Melzer A, Gockel I. Evaluation of hyperspectral imaging (HSI) for the measurement of ischemic conditioning effects of the gastric conduit during esophagectomy. Surg Endosc November 2019;33(11):3775–82.
16. McLeod H, Cox BF, Robertson J, Duncan R, Matthew S, Bhat R, Barclay A, Anwar J, Wilkinson T, Melzer A, Houston JG. Human Thiel-Embalmed Cadaveric Aortic Model with Perfusion for Endovascular Intervention Training and Medical Device Evaluation. Cardiovasc Intervent Radiol. September 2017;40(9):1454–60.