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Robot Snakes To Fight Cancer Via Natural Orifice Surgery

Posted by Unknown on from the he-said-orifice dept.

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.'"

5 of 73 comments (clear)

  1. Mel Brooks Comes to Mind by Scarletdown · · Score: 4, Funny

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

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  2. TSA training by Tuqui · · Score: 4, Funny

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

    1. Re:TSA training by niftydude · · Score: 4, Funny

      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.

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      You can never know everything, and part of what you do know will always be wrong. Perhaps even the most important part.
  3. Highly inspiring by SpaghettiPattern · · Score: 4, Funny

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

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    I hadn't the slightest objection to his spending his time planning massacres for the bourgeoisie... (P.G. Wodehouse)
  4. Re:Too complicated by Herve5 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I once got my stomach observed -the classical observation, no surgery.
    The process is a bit shocking (mainly because once you have this big tube inserted in your esophagus you cannot talk anymore, and it's more impressive that you may think)
    I can say they start with an empty stomach, and inflate it (with just air, through the tube) so yes the visibility is near perfect.
    Then within my observation they took samples: basically, they have a sharp tool that will just scorch a bit out, and basically they leave the wound unattended, and it heals, and you even don't feel anything neither at scorch time nor after. (you do feel the scorch traction mind you, a bit like when a dentist throws a tooth away from your mouth: 'hummph' -hey what what is he doing? but then it's just over ;-)
    So, while definitely not a professional myself, I'd say reaching the stomach wall and getting through it *is* easy and not consequential, apart psychologically...

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    Herve S.