Mini in vivo robots set to revolutionize telesurgery

Telemedicine can help in manipulating medicinal works from distant locations. Researchers at the University of Nebraska have invented an inexpensive version of the da Vinci surgical robots that due to its easy usability is set to revolutionize the world of telemedicine. The mini in vivo robots can be used even by people with non-medical background to perform minimally invasive surgeries from all locations, ranging from the space to underwater.

mini in vivo robots

This new discovery has opened up the windows to the world of telesurgeries. The researchers tested the efficacy of this system of using in vivo robots on three NASA astronauts and one surgeon who was undergoing training in an underwater habitat called the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations. The surgeries were carried on synthetic materials inside an abdominal cavity simulator. Their operations were telementored via videoconferencing. The crew succeeded in their laparoscopic surgeries inserting the tiny robots.

This method when standardized will help to save millions of lives in locations where it is difficult to give any proper treatment like battlefields and other unfriendly locales. Though it is too early to conclude that the robots can safely be handled by non-medical personnel but at least the paramedics can use it in the absence of trained doctors.

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Source: Physorg