Dec 30
i-Snake to Transform Modern Day Surgery
London — BBC News reports on Experts developing a flexible surgical robot, known as the i-Snake, which they say could revolutionize keyhole surgery. It could enable surgeons to do complex procedures previously possible only through more invasive techniques.
A team at Imperial College London has been granted £2.1 million for the work.
The i-Snake, a long tube housing special motors, sensors and imaging tools, has the potential to allow complex heart and bowel operations to be carried out without making an incision.
According to the research team, the i-Snake could also be used to detect problems in the gut and bowel by acting as the surgeon’s hands and eyes in hard to reach places inside the body. The Imperial College team, which includes health minister and surgeon Lord Ara Darzi, will test the device in the laboratory first, before using it on patients.
Lord Darzi said i-Snake could be in use within five years, resulting in cheaper operations and faster recovery times for patients. The robot’s diameter will vary between that of a 5p and a 10p piece and it will contain fibre-optic cables to relay information to the surgeon.
“The unrivalled imaging and sensing capabilities coupled with the accessibility and sensitivity of i-Snake will enable more complex diagnostic and therapeutic procedures than are currently possible, BBC quoted Lord Darzi, as saying. More at BBC News.