Robot Snakes To Fight Cancer Via Natural Orifice Surgery

Hugh Pickens writes writes "BBC reports that on a robot snake that, guided by a skilled surgeon and designed to get to places doctors are unable to reach without opening a patient up, could help spot and remove tumors more effectively. Robot snakes could be as minimally invasive using body orifices or local incisions as points of entry. 'Surgery is a cornerstone treatment for cancer so new technologies making it even more precise and effective are crucial,' says Safia Danovi from Cancer Research UK. 'Thanks to research, innovations such as keyhole surgery and robotics are transforming the treatment landscape for cancer patients and this trend needs to continue.' Robot snakes could complement a robotic surgical system that has been used for the past decade — the Da Vinci surgical system — that is controlled by a surgeon sitting in a nearby chair and looking at a screen displaying the area of the body where the surgery is taking place. The surgeon manipulates the robot by pressing pedals and moving levers. Natural orifice surgery (warning: pictures of the inside of a person) has the potential to revolutionize surgery in the same way that laparoscopic surgery replaced open surgery. The objective is to enter the abdomen through an internal organ rather than through the skin — e.g. access via the mouth, esophagus and stomach, and then through the stomach wall. 'We are at the earliest stage of establishing the problems and proposing solutions,' says Rob Buckingham of OC Robotics, developer of the robot snake (video). 'Our prototype signals a direction of travel and is a milestone towards exploring a new surgical paradigm.'"

Comments

Mel Brooks Comes to Mind

[Scarletdown]

So having a living snake put up your ass is no longer merely a penalty for striking a Roman citizen now? Very creative.

Re:Mel Brooks Comes to Mind

[jsse]

Relax, it's fine. Last time I have my doctor inserted that high-tech medical probe, which I have no idea what it was for, via my orifice and the whole process went very smoothly. He put his right hand on my right shoulder, and then put his left hand on my left shoulder, then inserted that snakey, slimy probe into my....

HEY WAIT A MINUTE!

Re:Mel Brooks Comes to Mind

[outsider007]

You messed up the joke.
Doctor: At first you're going to feel a little prick.
Patient: Okay but how about buying a guy a drink first.
Doctor: No problem, but I did I also mention the robot snakes crawling through all of your orifices?

Re:Mel Brooks Comes to Mind

[craigminah]

Or Samuel L. Jackson:

"Enough is enough! I have had it with these motherfucking robot snakes in my motherfucking orifice!"

TSA training

[Tuqui]

I just read that the TSA is training their agents in this techniques.

Re:TSA training

[niftydude]

I just read that the TSA is training their agents in this techniques.

I doubt it. Surely the last thing the TSA wants is a whole bunch of motherfuckin' snakes on a motherfuckin' plane.

Highly inspiring

[SpaghettiPattern]

Quite inspiring title. I will, in fact, use it to augment my collection of suave pick up lines.