Robot surgery in space

Small robots designed by scientists at the University of Nebraska allow physicians on Earth to help perform surgery for patients in space.

The tiny and wheeled robots are only about 7,6 cm tall and have a width just the width of the lipstick, which can be traced to small incisions and computerized by surgeons at various positions.

Some robots equipped with cameras and lights can send surgeons clear images inside the area where surgery is needed. Other robots with remotely operated surgical instruments that the surgeon can not do by hand. And with their small size, these robots also help reduce the size of the incision as well as reduce the number of unnecessary incisions, reducing surgery time.

" We think these robots will gradually replace open surgery ," said Dmitry Oleynikov, a computer-assisted neurosurgeon at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. A press conference yesterday. " With the help of these robots, we can do better than our own hands ," Oleynikov said.

Government officials hope that next spring, NASA will instruct astronauts how to use these tiny robots so that they can perform surgery in the universe at some point. Surgeons at the Earth will guide astronauts how to put the robots in place to operate, as well as remotely control these robots.

On the battlefield, these robots may also allow surgeons for injured warriors from other locations. Researchers are awaiting federal government approval. Oleynikov said animal tests have been successful and human trials will begin next spring in the UK.

VY