Surgeons have managed to perform a surgical simulation in the International Space Station (ISS) using a miniature robot. The robot was remotely controlled in the process.
This is a project by the University of Nebraska in collaboration with Virtual Incision. The parties have developed a robot called spaceMIRA. This robot was launched to the ISS at the end of January using a rocket from US aerospace company SpaceX.
Operated from Houston
Six surgeons were involved in the experiment on the ISS, which took about two hours. In the process, the robot was operated by a surgeon from Houston using hand and foot pedals from the headquarters of Virtual Incision. This company was founded to develop spaceMIRA.
MIRA stands for Miniaturised In Vivo Robotic Assistant. The robot was developed under the guidance of Shane Farritor, professor of Engineering at the University of Nebraska. Farritor is one of the founders of Virtual Incision. MIRA is the world's only surgical robot with a small form factor.
The basis for spaceMIRA
The design formed the basis for spaceMIRA. It is the first surgical robot on board the ISS. The operating robot is about 76 centimetres long and weighs about 900 grams.
The robot is equipped with two arms, one fitted with a gripper and the other with scissors. It also has a camera, which allows surgeons to monitor the robot's movements. During the experiment, the delay in controlling spaceMIRA was two-thirds to three-fourths of a second.
Opportunities on Earth too
Incidentally, the robot is not only interesting for performing operations in space. Ted Voloyiannis of Texas Oncology in Houston speaks of a "big step forward for surgery". For instance, Voloyiannis points to the accessibility of the operating robot and how easy it is to train on the robot. The surgeon also foresees opportunities for small communities where there are no specialised surgeons.
Further information is available here.
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
Photo: LoganArt via Pixabay
