I for one welcome our new ROBOT overlords.
These are built with zero electronics or ferrous metals so they can be used inside an operating MRI machine so the controlling Surgeon can operate on tumors that cannot otherwise be seen.
From the University of Calgary:
U of Calgary surgical robot brings new meaning to 'picking your brain'The arm currently costs $27M CDN -- a bit steep but this is the first of many so the price should plummet. Very cool technology.
It's not rocket science - but it is brain surgery.
Wait a minute, it's a bit of both.
On Tuesday researchers at the University of Calgary unveiled the NeuroArm - a new surgical robot they developed with help from the people who built the Canadarm for NASA's space shuttles.
This robot bears little resemblance to R2-D2 from Star Wars fame but it does come with high-definition cameras and bright lights. It also has two arms that wield operating tools with the skill of a surgeon.
In a demonstration for journalists, a white Styrofoam head was placed on the operating table to simulate a patient. In the room next door, an operator, peering into what appeared to be a microscope, operated the robot's controls. The tiny tools on its hands began busily tying rubber bands into knots.
Dr. Garnette Sutherland worked for six years to create the robot to aid in complex neurosurgery. The device is controlled from a computer workstation and provides real-time magnetic resonance imaging, giving the surgeon a ready view of how the brain is reacting.
"The robot can pick up a micro-scissors or other tools that neurosurgery uses and actually open and close them in much the same way that surgeons use their hands," said Sutherland, a professor of neurosurgery.
"Sensory feedback is a very important component of NeuroArm, and it has a sense of touch."
It could also result in safer surgery for patients.
"The feedback provides the surgeon the ability to quantify the forces involved in handling delicate tissue," Sutherland explained. "It would be wonderful to know the pressure that one is exerting on a blood vessel before it breaks."
Advanced surgical testing of NeuroArm is currently underway, and with the blessing of Health Canada it could be used on its first patient this summer.
