Advance in robotic surgery

Hand, uploaded by dh2

Canada was the first in the world to use robotic surgery. In 1999, Dr. Patrick Luke of the London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) and CSTAR (Canadian Surgical Technologies & Advanced Robotics) pioneered the use of the three-armed ZEUS™ robot in a minimally invasive cardiac single artery bypass on a beating heart. Benefits to the patient were obvious as it allowed for a minimally-invasive approach in surgery, less scarring, shorter hospital stay, faster recovery, and reduction in post-surgical pain. It was also very beneficial to the surgeon who had greater precision and dexterity where fine suturing techniques are required; the robotic arms eliminated the tremor of a surgeon’s hands; and the robotic arms reduced fatigue during surgery.

We may have been the first, but robotic arms in 1999 have advanced to robotic microhands in 2007. The world’s smallest robotic hand which was recently invented using microscale mechanical systems (MEMS) by researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles is able to be used in both wet and dry environments and in most biological applications. Vascular surgery will be transformed by this microhand which measures one millimeter across and consists of four “fingers,” each of which is made from six silicon wafers, with polymer balloons doing the work of “muscles” at the wafers’ joints. Incredibly it has two pairs of opposing finger/thumb sets and has an extreme range of motion. Further research will focus on integrating optical fibers in the palm so the microhand can also see while manipulating objects.

Watch the video from Technology Review as the hand grabs a single fish egg.