Cameron Riviere

Timeline

1. 1968–1989

   Virginia Beach and engineering degrees

   Born in Shawnee Mission, Kansas, in 1968, he grows up in Virginia Beach after his family moves there in 1971. He earns bachelor's degrees in aerospace engineering and ocean engineering at Virginia Tech in 1989.

2. 1995–1997

   A doctorate and Carnegie Mellon

   In 1995, he earns a mechanical engineering PhD at Johns Hopkins University, advised by Nitish V. Thakor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. His thesis examines adaptive suppression of tremor for improved human-machine control, and he joins Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute in 1995. In 1997, he also becomes an adjunct assistant professor in the University of Pittsburgh's Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology.

3. October 1997

   Neural networks for surgical instruments

   With Pradeep Khosla, he coauthors a 1997 paper on an active handheld instrument for microsurgery. The work develops adaptive algorithms and neural network methods to compensate for hand tremor and other positioning errors, with an instrument design intended for surgery inside the eye.

4. 2007

   HeartLander on a beating heart

   By 2007, Riviere and colleagues develop HeartLander, a 20-millimeter robot that crawls across a beating heart to deliver drugs or attach medical devices. Its two suction feet hold it against the heart, and surgeons control its movement with a joystick.

5. 2009

   Reaching behind the heart

   In 2009, the HeartLander project, which he heads, extends the robot's movement to the back of the heart. The robot crawls upside down beneath the heart and positions tools with accuracy better than 2 millimeters through a single keyhole incision while the heart beats.

6. 2012

   Testing Micron with surgeons

   In 2012, he and coauthors report the design and performance of Micron, an actively stabilized handheld tool that moves its tip to correct unwanted hand motion. Testing with three eye surgeons and three non-surgeons reduces position error by 32% to 52%, depending on the measurement used.

7. 2022

   Deep learning for vessel avoidance

   In 2022, he coauthors a study that combines deep learning for blood vessel segmentation with 3D reconstruction to guide Micron during neurosurgical tasks. Trials on deformable and moving vessel models test a control method that limits the tool's entry into protected regions around blood vessels, with real-time control at 33.3 frames per second.

8. January 2026

   HeartPrinter on an artificial heart

   In January 2026, he coauthors a study of HeartPrinter, a robot with three suction bases and a cable-driven injector for gene therapy delivery on the heart. Tests on an artificial beating heart demonstrate placement of the robot and evaluate methods to locate its bases and align a three-dimensional heart scan with the robot.

9. As of October 2026

   Research professor at Carnegie Mellon

   As of October 2026, he is a research professor in Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute and director of its Surgical Mechatronics Laboratory. He also holds an adjunct professorship in the University of Pittsburgh's Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology.