Joystick Working Robot, How Can It Be Used In Surgery?

MIT engineers have developed a telerobotic system to help surgeons treat patients with strokes or aneurysms remotely. With a modified joystick, surgeons can operate on a patient remotely.

The MIT team predicts that the robotics system could be installed in smaller hospitals and remotely guided by surgeons trained in larger medical centers.

The system includes a medical-grade robotic arm with a magnet attached to its wrist. With a joystick and live imaging, the operator can adjust the direction of the magnet and manipulate the arm to guide a soft and thin magnetic wire along arteries and veins.

The researchers demonstrated the system in a "ghost," a transparent model with veins that replicate complex arteries of the brain. With just an hour of training, neurosurgeons were able to remotely control the robot's arm to get a wire through a labyrinth of veins to the target positions in the model.

The system can provide teleoperated endovascular treatment to patients during critical time after the onset of stroke.

#surgery #robotics #stroke

Study details: Kim Y, et al. Telerobotic neurovascular interventions with magnetic manipulation. Science Robotics, 2022; 7 (65) http://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.abg9907