A student team led by Professor Xiangjian He from the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) has won first place globally in the MultiBypass Surgical Action Triplet Challenge 2026, marking the first time a Chinese university has claimed the title.
The team developed an AI model that can recognise surgical instruments, actions and targets in real time, enabling it to interpret surgical procedures as they unfold. The technology could support more intelligent surgical monitoring and analysis, laying important groundwork for the future development of autonomous medical robots.
The team improved the model’s recognition accuracy and ability to adapt to different clinical settings through innovative technical approaches. Collaboration with clinical professionals and industry experts, facilitated by Professor He, also allowed the students to refine their model using real-world medical scenarios, helping bridge the gap between algorithm development and practical healthcare applications.
Professor He, Chair Professor of Computer Science and Technology at UNNC, guided the team by providing strategic direction while encouraging students to explore their own solutions. This approach gave the team greater scope for experimentation and independent problem-solving, demonstrating the university’s commitment to fostering student innovation through research-led learning and expert mentorship.
The achievement builds on UNNC’s strong track record in the MICCAI challenges, following three consecutive global titles in the International Brain Tumour Image Segmentation challenge from 2023 to 2025. This latest success further demonstrates the university’s growing contribution to medical image computing and its efforts to empower students to tackle complex global challenges through interdisciplinary research and innovation.
The team is now preparing an academic paper based on its award-winning model for submission to a leading international journal.
Published on 12 October 2026