Biograph: Dr. Zeyang Xia is a full Professor with Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (SIAT), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). He received the B.S. degree from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China, in 2002, and the Ph.D. degree from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, in 2008. After that, he had been working at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore as a Research Fellow from 2008-2009, and Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, U.S., as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow and then a Research Assistant Professor from 2009 to 2012. Dr. Xia joined SIAT at CAS as an Associate Professor and founded the Medical Robotics and Biomechanics Laboratory (http://www.bigsmilelab.ac.cn) in 2012, and was then promoted to a full Professor in 2016. Dr. Xia’s research focuses on fundamentals and applications of innovative robotic system in medical and healthcare fields. Dr. Xia has been the PI of over ten research grants including one from National Key Research and Development Plan of China and three from Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), one from Guangdong Natural Science Funds for Distinguished Young Scholar, and one from Guangdong Province Major Science and Technology Project. Dr. Xia has published over 90 research papers, and has applied for over 40 patents until 2019. He is the winner of Wu Wenjun Artificial Intelligence Science and Technology Award (Natural Science) (2017) and the winner of Xiong Youlun Zhihu Excellent Youth Scientist Award (2019). Dr. Xia is a Fellow of IET (since 2019) and a senior member of IEEE (since 2016). He served as the General Chair of IEEE RCAR 2019 and key organizing members of several other IEEE or CIE robotics conferences.

Title: Computational Biomechanics and Robotics for Precision Orthodontics

Abstract: Malocclusion is one of the major oral diseases, which may result in both physical and mental health issues. Traditional clinical orthodontic treatment is practiced based on a “trial-and-error” pattern, which over relies on the experience of the orthodontists. Lack of predictability has been a major problem for current clinical orthodontics which demands better treatment results and shorter treatment duration. Therefore, predictable orthodontic treatment has been demanded generally by the clinic. The main problems to be resolved include two aspects, lack of consideration of biomechanics during the treatment clinically, and difficulties of fabricating precision customized orthodontic appliances technically. Therefore, our research aims to realize the precision orthodontics using computational biomechanics and robotics technologies. The major aspects realized in our research include, treatment prediction using biomechanics-based orthodontic tooth movement pattern control and simulation, precision customized orthodontic appliance manufacturing using a robotic system, treatment acceleration using differential tooth movement modulation. These key biomechanics and robotics technologies have been fundamentals to realize precision orthodontics with predictable outcomes, less side effects, shorter treatment duration and less cost. Our objective is to promote the current clinical orthodontic treatment from experience-based pattern to precision pattern using these key technologies in the near future.