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Robots Might Allow For Space Surgery
An anonymous reader writes "Robots might allow for delicate surgeries in space, reports the Washington Post." From the article: "The tiny, wheeled robots, which are about 3 inches tall and as wide as a lipstick case, can be slipped into small incisions and computer-controlled by surgeons in different locations. Some robots are equipped with cameras and lights and can send back images to surgeons. Others have surgical tools attached that can be controlled remotely ... Officials hope that next spring, NASA will teach astronauts to use the robots so that surgeries could one day be performed in space. Delays in communication because of the distance to space would mean surgeons on earth would have tell astronauts what commands to give the robots"
yeah but isn't the same delay present in telling the astronauts what to do as well?
I'm afraid that unless you take a surgeon with you, if you need an operation in space you're a gonner. Robots... yeah right.
Are the creators of this technology saying that we shall at some point in future, have to send patients into space in order for them to have surgery? How expensive! To me, the whole project sounds ludicrous.
I read the article, but why do we need to do surgeries in space? I would estimate that no more than 10 people are ever in orbit at one time, and usually we don't send up people to space in need of surgery.
_ _ _ _ _
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Let's all get butchered in space by a bunch of killer robots.....
Hand on, I think I've seen that film.
"Delays in communication because of the distance to space would mean surgeons on earth would have tell astronauts what commands to give the robots"
Surely the delay in communication would also apply to the surgeons telling the astronauts what to do? Doesn't this just add further delay?
I think I'll get excited about this when they start using it locally as a superior technology to regular surgery. I mean, if this is such a great option, why aren't they using this as a replacement for an 8-inch incision?
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
The minute you go under the anesthesia, it's over.
Robots might allow for delicate surgeries in space,
Rrright. I'm glad we're solving *tomorrow's* problems today. Shouldn't we first actually get a space program?
man, as a surgeon, i would really hate the ping time. you can bleed alot from an arterial bleed.
also, low gravity surgery would require new techical skills. we actually depend on gravity to keep bowel from floating around and obscuring our view. what do bleeders look like in low-gravity? for the mars mission, will people just have their gallbladder, appendix and uterus out before the trip?
Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.
Am I the only one whose first thought upon reading this headline was Rama II where an appendicitis is performed?
"Don't meddle in the affairs of a patent dragon, for thou art tasty and good with ketchup." ~ohcrapitssteve
The tiny, wheeled robots, which are about 3 inches tall and as wide as a lipstick case,...
;-)
Oh come on, Slashdotters are supposed to know how big a lipstick case is?
$x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
$x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
"Louey isn't with us anymore..."
Say what you want about the eco-hippie theme, that movie had some nice AI concepts.
If you don't want to repeat the past, stop living in it.
But very cool.
Charles Jo
...from the terrible secret of space!
What are their demands? I say we give them whatever they want.
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Surgeon on Earth - "Damn lag!"
XeoMage
Silent Running.
"The more corrupt the state, the more it legislates." - Tacitus
I read about this same technology in this series. Could his predictions finally be coming true?
Online backup with Mozy, sounds like Ozzie, but more!
Last time when Lockheed Martin engineers were overwhelmed by the complexity of the metric system it did cost NASA a Mars probe. I hope next time when someone doctors with 3 "inches" robots it won't cost a life. Not that I expect the Washington Post to accomplish what 95% of the world has done, but I sure hope NASA does.
Delays in communication because of the distance to space would mean surgeons on earth would have tell astronauts what commands to give the robots
And issuing the command to a human who then has to issue the command to a robot will somehow introduce less delay than the surgeon issuing the command directly?
Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
Stop testing us and get back on topic.
You should post valuable content more often and nit-pick less.
Because, you know, surgeon -> astronaut -> robot is much faster than surgeon -> robot.
After all, why would you hire the ludicrously expensive local surgeon when you can hire an equally-skilled Indian living in Bangalore (right next door to the Dell phone support center) to use these robots to work remotely.
Soon, you'll be able to have your surgery done at WalMart, and the only people they have to pay directly are the anesthesiologist and maybe a couple of post-op nurses.
Oh, and don't think that WalMart won't be saving copies of the surgical procedure so that they can be replayed, probably under the control of a expert system or primitive AI. Then you can cut the pesky surgeon out of the equation entirely (except in extremely unusual cases) and boost profits even higher.
"Space Surgery" is just window dressing. This is all about offshoring more jobs.
Schwab
Editor, A1-AAA AmeriCaptions
can be slipped into small incisions "I think you're bugged." Agent Smith would *love* this idea.
"Eddies," said Ford, "in the space-time continuum." "Ah," nodded Arthur, "is he? Is he?"
"The tiny, wheeled robots, which are about 3 inches tall and as wide as a lipstick case, can be slipped into small incisions and computer-controlled by surgeons in different locations." Sounds like anal probing to me.
How bad is it when you're two fricken' days later than the WSJ's OpinionJournal.com and three days later than the Associated Press?
/. jumped a few years ago is now playing leapfrog using a ski jump.
The shark
Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor, not a robot driver!
I for one, welcome my space robot surgeon overlords!
Yea, the actual title of the article is poorly written: "Robots May Allow Surgery in Space"
how is this thing supposed to stop bleeding? How will it suck out the excess blood? What happens when blood and other fluids get all over the camera lens? Will it come with optional wipers installed? What will it be able to do at all inside a body with those 3 claws? I can't see how it will saw pieces together or how it can do anything except for clamping. And this robot will cost 200 bucks only? I say hogwash. Don't believe in this at all.
You can't handle the truth.
I would much prefer these problems solved before we go. I'd hate to be on a trip to mars, and die on the way because nobody knows how to do some surgery that I unexpectedly need. I want all bases covered, with enough redundancy that if something goes wrong it isn't fatal.
Remember Apollo 13? Something like that could not be recovered from on the way to mars, so they have to have other way to recover. There are plenty of other disasters that could happen that need to be planed for. (with enough supplies that the unplanned can be dealt with from those)
I don't think there is anyone on earth that doesn't have some rare disease. Most a minor, but there are so many of them that the total is everyone has something wrong.
Besides this can be used on earth, and could be better than standard surgery.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo
--Andy Finkel (J. Klass?)
This is SO pointless. Remote-controlled robots to perform surgey in space, on the slight chance that an astronaut has an unforseen urgent emergency? Why not just build robots to do the astronauts' jobs via remote-control, and skip this trickiness?
Consider the relative difficulty of invasive surgery in comparison to installing a PCI card or changing the lubricant in an automobile. Repair work on a machine (which can have been intentionally designed for easy servicing) is incomprably simpler than trying to heal a live human by cutting her up.
The differences are magnified at orbital or interplanetary distances, were telecommunications lag comes into play. Even a few seconds delay between commands could have a human patient bleeding to death, but machines can be powered down before maintenance, meaning NASA can easily take 60 minutes to direct each individual step (and then wait the same time to get images of the result).
Once we've got robots that can reliably fix a flat-tire by transcontinental remote-control, then we can start to think about robosurgery. Walk before you can run; solder before you can suture.
(Furthermore, if something goes wrong, a dead astronaut killed by a misaligned surgeon-bot is more expensive than a satellite disabled by a mechanic-bot, once all the costs from negative publicity have been factored in)
"Some robots are equipped with cameras and lights and can send back images to surgeons. Others have surgical tools attached that can be controlled remotely..." Sounds like a good start for outsourcing surgery. Let the rich start to feel the brunt it and we might see something finally done.
I'm surprised no one has yet mentioned the possibility of one of these things being left inside after a surgery. If doctors can miss an eight inch or larger retractor when closing up a patient, what is stopping them from missing one of the few little robots with which they are doing remote surgery?
Granted, the interface would probably have each robot indicated as to status (in body or out) and it might not be an issue, but there's always the possibility of sensor or total failure.
Also, if one were left inside and not noticed, imagine a recall instruction when another operation was over. The thought of having a little robot trying to force itself out of your body...*shudder*
"I swear I won't break you if you let me take you where the willows never weep" -- Switchblade Symphony
As James Taranto said:
Since When Do We Have to Ask Them for Permission?
"Robots May Allow Surgery in Space"--headline, Associated Press, Oct. 26
Hear about the lagging space-based circumcision robot? It screwed up and got the sack.
"got the sack" Brit slang
This autosurgeon can already do the same thing without any human instructions.
http://agdb.net.ru/images/system_shock_1.jpg
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The astronauts can ask Tony Curtis if he could donate one of his ME DI BOTs.
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Don't get me wrong: I work in spaceresearch at the moment. But this is ridiculous. We've got tens of thousands of people right here on *earth* in need of surgeons every day.
Couldn't this tech be used in places like Pakistan, like, tomorrow?
So surgeons are going to talk to astronauts who are trained to operate robots who perform surgery?
Wouldn't it be easier to just train the astronauts to perform surgery themselves? Saves you the cost of developing the robot. Is there any reason to suspect that guiding a surgeon robot will require less skill than doing the cutting by hand?
Sounds to me like someone desperately trying to justify NASA funding for a worthwhile research project that doesn't have anything at all to do with the space program. (Not necessarily a bad thing - these little robots could well be the only useful thing to emerge from our latest manned space-flight flirtation.)
I'm a microsurgeon, and have spent thousands of dollars and almost a year practicing. I can finally use my talents for profit. I went to Konami University in the 80's and... oh wait, that was Life Force (salamander). NM.
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Ooo man the floppy drive is broken. No wait. The computer is just upside down.
Ooo man the floppy drive is broken. No wait. The computer is just upside down.
Training "space professionals" is already expensive, but compared to launch and trip expenses it is near to nothing. Why not add to it complete medical training for each and every member of the crew? Sorta', like, mandatory "first aid" course for obtaining a drivers licence...