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UK Docs Perform First Remote-Control Heart Surgery

Posted by timothy on from the a-a-b-up-down-a-b-no-wait dept.

ByronScott writes "Doctors at a British hospital have just carried out the world's first surgery using a remote-controlled robot. The procedure fixed a patient's irregular heart rhythm, and although the doctor was in the same hospital as the patient — just through the wall in another room — developers of the RC surgery technology believe this is the first step toward long-distance operations. Imagine a doctor in London performing surgery on your heart in New York!"

3 of 142 comments (clear)

  1. Too bad if the connection drops out... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    in the middle of a critical action during a life threatening operation. I'd also be worried about lag as one would assume that some surgical procedures require timely precision.

  2. High Ping Bastards by OnePumpChump · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Until I can get reliably get pings low enough to play intercontinental TF2, I won't want anyone playing Operation Online in my guts, thanks.

  3. Since no other MDs appear to be commenting... by demonlapin · · Score: 5, Informative
    There are several things to note here::
    • This is a heart catheterization, not an open procedure.
    • The surgeon is present to perform the vascular access and leaves the room only to avoid the frankly huge amounts of radiation necessary to perform the procedure.
    • It's not done over the Internet.
    • You can't do this remotely because you still need a surgeon and anesthesiologist on site (remember, the surgeon has to get into the vessel in the first place, and if anything goes wrong, he's going to have to run upstairs to do emergency heart surgery). This thing isn't mobile in any common sense of the word.