Robotics and Technology
The process of minimally invasive surgery has been augmented by specialized tools for decades. For example, TransEnterix of Durham, North Carolina received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval in October 2009 for its SPIDER Surgical System using flexible instruments and one incision in the navel area instead of several, allowing quicker healing for patients. Dr. Richard Stac of Duke University developed the process.
In recent years, electronic tools have been developed to aid surgeons. Some of the features include:
- Visual magnification — use of a large viewing screen improves visibility
- Stabilization — Electromechanical damping of vibrations, due to machinery or shaky human hands
- Simulators — use of specialized virtual reality training tools to improve physicians' proficiency in surgery
- Reduced number of incisions
Robotic surgery has been touted as a solution to underdeveloped nations, whereby a single central hospital can operate several remote machines at distant locations. The potential for robotic surgery has had strong military interest as well, with the intention of providing mobile medical care while keeping trained doctors safe from battle.
Read more about this topic: Laparoscopic Surgery
Famous quotes containing the word technology:
“Technology is not an image of the world but a way of operating on reality. The nihilism of technology lies not only in the fact that it is the most perfect expression of the will to power ... but also in the fact that it lacks meaning.”
—Octavio Paz (b. 1914)