SMART Technology - A big step in medical surgery

Try holding your hand still for a long time to try. No way, right? No matter how hard you try, your hand still vibrates a few times a second even though the deflection is equivalent to just one sheet thick! This is not important for normal people, but it is a big challenge for surgeons to work on very delicate organs like eyes or nerves.

There are already devices to help limit this situation somewhat, and recently, researchers at Johns Hopkins University have come up with a new product - a surgical device that can compensate for the movement due to Run the surgeon's hand.

Known as SMART (Smart Micromanipulation Aided Robotic-surgical Tool) , this handheld device is equipped with an infrared laser transmitter at the top, infrared rays emit straight to the tissues and organs of the disease. multiply. This laser is like a distance sensor, using a single optical wire to both get back the light waves it emits, and also transmit this reflected wave to the processing computer. By analyzing these data, the computer can determine when and how much the hand vibrates in comparison to the patient's tissues.

The head of this SMART device is also fitted with a piezoelectric motor, which helps move a frame that can be mounted on it with other devices such as a scalpel or clamp. When the computer recognizes the small device's device due to shaking hands, it will compensate by activating the motor to move backwards accurately. If the surgeon's hand accidentally makes the device move 10 micrometers to the left, SMART will automatically move the device to 10 micrometers.

This adjustment system can handle and execute up to 500 actions per second, much larger than the frequency when hand trembling is 15 times per second.

This technology has been tested on the model and on live chicken embryos; after about 30 seconds, the report states: 'sufficient to assess the physiological tremor traits of the surgeon' . In order to be able to test clinical feasibility, it needs to operate in the operating room for up to 3 hours. Researchers hope that this device will soon be widely used in the next few years.

Reference: Gizmag