Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Robot-assisted high-precision surgery has passed its first test in humans

Good news! Robot assisted surgery is advancing!

MIT Technology Review. The Download. Your daily dose of what’s up in emerging technology reported today (2/12/2020):
"A trial of a new high-precision surgical robot used to operate on women with breast cancer found the system is safe. 
Super-small: It’s the first human trial of a robot for “supermicrosurgery,” a term referring to surgery on vessels that range from 0.3 to 0.8 millimeters. It’s a form of surgery that only a small number of surgeons worldwide can perform.
The trial: The trial used a robotic system called MUSA, manufactured by a Dutch company called Microsure. It basically cancels out small tremors in the surgeons’ hands and scales down their hand movements. 
Why it matters: Robot surgery is nothing new, but it has not been found to be any better than traditional surgery [highly doubtful and incorrect, e.g. da Vinci Surgical System], and it is more expensive. Very high-precision surgery is a niche where robotic gadgets could potentially prove their worth, by turning decent surgeons into world-class ones."

The coronavirus is the first true social media “infodemic”

No comments: