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In a world first, surgeons had used a self-navigating surgical robot as part of an experimental operation – forming a robotic catheter to reach a leaking valve in the heart of a pig.
The new robot, described in a research published in the journal Robotic science Wednesday marks the beginning of the transition from robotic surgical tools to true robot-assisted surgeries, where stand-alone devices can actually ease the burden on overburdened human physicians.
Hugging the walls
The catheter found its way to the leaking valve by hugging the walls of the heart as it sailed, using artificial intelligence and a camera to determine its location.
"The algorithms help the catheter determine the type of tissue it touches, where it is in the heart and how it should choose its next move to get where we want to go," Pierre DuPont, head of the department of pediatric cardiac bioengineering in Boston. Children's Hospital, said in a press release.
First steps
The doctor took longer to reach the leaking valve than a doctor guiding a standard catheter, but the surgeons behind the project see in their realization the beginning of automated surgeries in which robots handle mundane tasks.
"The right way to think about this is the analogy of a fighter pilot and a fighter jet," said DuPont. "The fighter aircraft assumes routine tasks, such as flying the plane, so that the pilot can focus on the higher-level tasks of the mission."
READ MORE: A first in medical robotics: autonomous navigation in the body[BostonChildren'sHospitalvia[BostonChildren'sHospitalvia[BostonChildren’sHospitalvia[BostonChildren’sHospitalviaScienceDaily]
More on robotic surgery: Experts: stem cells and robots will replace many invasive surgeries
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