Kuntz Lab

Vanderbilt University

Advancing robot motion planning and autonomous systems for healthcare and beyond

Our Research Meet the Team

About the Lab

The Kuntz Lab is an interdisciplinary robotics research group at Vanderbilt University focused on autonomous surgery, continuum robotics, and microsurgical systems. We develop computational methods and robotic systems that bring intelligent autonomy to medical procedures — making surgery safer, less invasive, and more precise.

Our work spans the full stack of medical robotics: from foundational motion planning algorithms to in vivo robotic systems demonstrated in living subjects. Notable highlights include the first demonstration of autonomous medical needle steering in vivo, published in Science Robotics and featured in Forbes.

We are recruiting motivated PhD students. If you are interested in joining, please visit our prospective students page.

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Research Areas

Autonomous Surgery

Developing autonomous and semi-autonomous robotic systems capable of performing surgical tasks with minimal human intervention, combining motion planning, perception, and decision-making.

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Continuum Robotics

Advancing motion planning and control for continuum robots — including concentric tube robots, steerable needles, and tendon-actuated systems — enabling access to difficult-to-reach anatomy.

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Microsurgical Systems

Designing and planning motions for robotic systems that operate at the microscale, enabling precision surgical interventions beyond the limits of human dexterity.

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Recent News

Three papers accepted to ICRA 2026

March 2026  ·  ProbeMDE, DiffDef, and Neural Operators for Continuum Robots were all accepted to the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2026).

Three papers accepted to ISMR 2026

March 2026  ·  PushCVAE, Level 3 autonomous prostate surgery, and endoscopic suturing work were all accepted to the International Symposium on Medical Robotics (ISMR 2026).

New paper in Science Robotics

2025  ·  "Medical Needles in the Hands of AI: Advancing Toward Autonomous Robotic Navigation" published in Science Robotics with Ron Alterovitz and Janine Hoelscher.

Kuntz Lab joins Vanderbilt University

2025  ·  Dr. Alan Kuntz joins the faculty at Vanderbilt University, relocating the lab from the University of Utah.