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Robot Performs Prostate Surgery Inside an MRI
the_newsbeagle writes: Researchers have developed a non-metallic robot with ceramic piezoelectric motors that functions inside an MRI machine, allowing surgeons to perform procedures guided by real-time imaging. It's now being tested in prostate biopsies. Doctors say this system will let them aim their needles more precisely and reduce the number of times they stick them in. The NIH thinks such systems could come in handy for neurosurgery too. Gregory Fischer, a professor of mechanical engineering at WPI whose Automation and Interventional Medicine Robotics Lab led the research says: "You can bring it into any MRI room and have it up and running in an hour. It can locate the target, track the needle, and if it deflects during insertion, it can steer the needle to hit the target. We’re taking baby steps to get the robot into clinical use."
First post, some crazy rant about the hosts file, moo moo cows, obligatory robotic overlords meme, etc.
like a motherfucker.
I was just reading about an MRI that performs robot repair inside a prostate, so this headline really tripped me up for a second.
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
Somebody did not fully explain this situation to the patient.
I mean, I wouldn't ever be the first guy verifying the test procedures for something so, um, delicate.
This can go wrong is soooo many ways...
Table-ized A.I.
Bunch of geniuses invent robotic surgical equipment that can operate in an intense magnetic field.
What's the first thing they want to do with it?
"Stick it up his arse!"
Forget thrust, drag, lift and weight. Airplanes fly because of money.
That's how I read the headline as well... not sure if it's missing a comma or just needs to be rephrased.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
The original IEEE story is about the use of MRI when doing prostate cancer biopsies, not prostate cancer surgery, which is almost always the radical removal of the prostate -- something that would not be aided appreciably by MRI. (The visual field is already outstandingly clearly illuminated during a DaVinci robotic procedure. Seeing *within* the prostate would be unnecessary during removal.) Likewise, prostate surgeries for BPH (enlarged gland) won't warrant MR either, since the procedure is already well served by a simple camera attached to a trochar.
The article also fails to mention how economically feasible the use of MRI would be for biopsy, given the high cost of MR in general (perhaps 10x more than CT, which is perhaps 5X the cost of ultrasound, which is what's used now). In practice, it's more likely that advances in ultrasound (like doppler) will prove more useful and feasible for biopsy than will MR.
I'm surprised the researchers were not aware that you can build robots with servos that aren't even in the same room as the "business end" of the robot. Plastic parts don't have to be actuated by locally mounted servos.
As a bonus, you don't have to build tiny servos, or have them packed together in a tiny volume, which drastically reduces the overall cost of the robot itself, as well as them being a heck of a lot easier to repair (making them even cheaper in terms of lifecycle cost).
so you would prefer an agonizing slow death from cancer?
Some prostrate cancers are so slow growing and happen so late in life, the recommended treatment option is... nothing. Monitor the situation and realize it may take more years then you have left before it becomes a problem. Also, the side effects of treatment might be more debilitating than the cancer itself. http://www.cancer.org/cancer/p...
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While removing the ferromagnetic materials in motors solves one problem, how do they deal with the wires/cables for power and control signals? It doesn't matter if the material they're made of is non-ferromagnetic metal or some other conductor, such as conductive ceramic — the conductors by virtue of being conductors will get current induced in them through both (1) moving through the magnetic field as the robot moves, and (2) from the MRI's RF. I did not see in TFA how they address this. Can someone here explain?
"Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason."
i bet some terrorists designed it.
now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
Nice but why do prostate biopsies at all?
If it's the aggressive cancer version, you're fucked anyway, if not, it doesn't matter since you'll be dead anyway long before it becomes a problem.
Just make your testament.
...welcome out new prostate-probing robotic overlords.
Mod parent up.
My dad had to deal with this in his early 70s, and was very painfully treated, successfully. Unfortunately, he passed from another form of cancer two years later. Recommended reading here:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pm...
Just another day in Paradise
I had one (prostate biopsy) about 10 yrs ago. The doc that ordered it did so because of a single elevated PSA. No robots, no MRI, just a doctor and nurse with an ultrasound machine and a tube up my butt. They moved the tube guided by the ultrasound image. press a button and it shoots a hollow needle through the colon wall into the prostrate. Basically, core drilling into body parts. Hurts like hell. Retrieve the needle with sample, put new needle into machine, lather, rinse, repeat. Blood in my piss and come for a week. Diagnosis was BPH. I cant see how robots and being confined to an MRI will make it any more effective or painless; just more expensive.
The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
no no no no No NO NO!
They got the headline wrong, should read : ROBOT ATTACKS PROSTATE of MAN TRAPPED in MRI with NEEDLES
I'm sure the younger generation will accept this as a beneficial advancement and not some of the scariest parts of the major motion picture "Prometheus".
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Much is left unsaid when making this claim. If your cancer is found before age 65, or if the cancer is not localized, you absolutely will want to treat. The "wait and see" approach applies mostly to men who are closer to 80 than 65.
Yes, early prostate cancer (e.g. Gleason 3) does advance slowly relative to other cancers. But we're *not* talking about 10 years here. If you hope to live more than perhaps another 5 years after diagnosis, you definitely will need to address the cancer somehow (surgery, radiation, or hormones).
IMHO, watchful waiting is overrated unless you're in late stage retirement. And PSA screening is badly underrated.
...and here I thought I couldn't dread going into an MRI machine any more than I already did...
I didn't realize MRIs had prostates..
you learn something new every day!