Slashdot Mirror
First Zero-Gravity Surgery a Success
MattSparkes writes "Slashdot reported earlier this week that the first ever zero gravity surgery was to take place. Today the team of doctors successfully carried out the operation, removing a benign tumour from the forearm of a 46-year-old volunteer.
"Now we know that a human being can be operated on in space without too many difficulties," team leader Dominique Martin said after the flight.
The studies show that minor surgery is possible even during long-term inhabitation of space."
I have a long standing bet with a friend of mine that this has been tried already on a shuttle mission, but kept quiet. We agree that there is not evidence for or against it at present. ((I bet that it has happned, he bets it hasn't))
The studies show that minor surgery is possible even during long-term inhabitation of space.
They were at zero-g for 20 seconds at a time. How does that prove the same techniques will work after the body has been in zero-g for long periods of time? TFA makes no mention of this.
Developers: We can use your help.
I recall there was (is?) a married couple who are both astronauts. No idea if they have ever served on the same mission, but assuming they have I would expect NASA wouldn't object to allowing them to "conduct some research"...
after RTFA, i noticed that they talked about havingt he next attempt at zero gravity surgery be robot controlled. maybe i'm misinterpretting but shouldn't they first develop robots that can perform surgey here?
the only thing i can think of that they meant otherwise was that the "zero gravity" twenty second portion would be robot controlled. can anyone clear this up for me?
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How do you want to comment it seriously?
What did it prove? That it is possible to cut human tissue during weightlessness, that it is possible to suck away blood without gravity, that it is possible to sew it back together while there is no weight attached. Personally, I did not doubt that this would be possible, but then, IANAM.
What it didn't prove is whether there are any effects on the healing process, which would be, at least in my opinion, at the very least as, if not more, interesting. How does the human body recover in a state of zero-G? Does everything grow back together normally? How about the lack of "exercise" because you simply cannot and are by no means forced to.
I had a surgery on my knee a while ago and the recovery was more painful than the OP. And that was NOT in 0G. There was a lot of exercise and a lot of recovery programs attached. How would this work in 0G where exercise and atrophy and brittle bones are already an issue when you're healthy?
I think recovery in space is by far more a problem than the OP itself.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I wonder if there is a significant increase in risk of infection. From waht I understand, zero gravity environments are notoriously dirty. Disgusting, even. You sneaze, for example, and the result just floats and sticks to the wall. Bits of food float around (harboring microbes, etc.) How does one create sterile environment in zero-G?
-matthew
"THERE IS NO JUSTICE, THERE IS ONLY ME." -Death