Robots to perform open surgeries

16 May 2008

There is now scope for using robots to perform surgeries too. Duke University engineers have initiated steps to use robots for conducting complicated surgeries. They are exploring options of using robots in more complex roles in future such as performing surgeries in remote or dangerous locations like the battlefield or in space. Duke University engineers have taken the first concrete step towards realising this space age future, based on feasibility studies conducted in their lab. They have developed a new technology that could make existing medical procedures safer and better for patients.

Robot-assisted surgery is the latest development in the larger movement of endoscopy, a type of minimally invasive surgery. The idea is that less invasive procedures translate into less trauma and pain for patients. Surgery through smaller incisions typically results in less scarring and faster recovery. Surgeons are still cutting and sewing like they have been for decades. Robots represent a new computer-assisted tool that provides another way for surgeons to work.

The endoscopy allows surgeons to operate through small incisions by using an endoscope. This fiber optic instrument has a small video camera that gives doctors a magnified internal view of a surgical site on a television screen. In abdominal endoscopy, known as laparoscopy, surgeons thread the fiber optic instrument into the abdomen. With robotic surgical systems, surgeons don't move endoscopic instruments directly with their hands. Instead, surgeons sit at a console several feet from the operating table and use joysticks similar to those used in video games. They perform surgical tasks by guiding the movement of the robotic arms in a process known as tele-manipulation.

Advances in ultrasound technology have made these latest experiments possible, the researchers said, by generating detailed, 3-D moving images in real-time. The research will continue to refine the ability of robots to perform independent procedures.