Technology In lab tests, several hundred billion such bots


were injected into an artery and then remotely guided as a swarm, using magnets and medical imaging, to the site of an aneurysm. Magnetic sources outside the body then cause the robots to cluster together inside the aneurysm and be heated to their melting point, releasing a naturally occurring blood-clotting protein, which blocks the aneurysm to prevent or stem bleeding into the brain. The international team, co-led by clinicians


from Shanghai Sixth People’s Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in China, successfully tested their devices in model aneurysms in the lab and in a small number of rabbits. The team says that nanorobots show potential for transporting and releasing drug molecules to precise locations in the body without risk of leaking into the bloodstream – a key test of the technology’s safety and efficacy. The study could pave the way for further developments towards trials in people. Their advance could improve on current


treatments for brain aneurysms. Typically, doctors thread a tiny microcatheter tube along blood vessels before using it to insert metal coils to stem the aneurysm blood flow, or a mesh tube called a stent, to divert the bloodstream in the artery. The researchers say their new technique could decrease the risk that the body will reject implanted materials, and curb reliance on anti-blood-clotting drugs, which can cause bleeding and stomach problems. The method also avoids the need for


doctors to manually shape a microcatheter to navigate a complex network of small blood vessels in the brain to reach the aneurysm – a painstaking task which may take hours during surgery. Larger brain aneurysms – which can be difficult to stem quickly and safely using metal coils or stents – could potentially be treated using the new technique too.


Dr. Qi Zhou of the University of Edinburgh’s


School of Engineering, who co-led the study, said: “Nanorobots are set to open new frontiers in medicine – potentially allowing us to carry out surgical repairs with fewer risks than conventional treatments and target drugs with pinpoint accuracy in hard-to-reach parts of the body. Our study is an important step towards bringing these technologies closer to treating critical medical conditions in a clinical setting.”


Remote surgery Ultimately, the holy grail in robotics is the potential for remote surgery, allowing expertise to be shared across geographies and in challenging environments. Application of remote robotic surgery is currently being explored to tackle the challenges of performing surgery in the military and even in space. In a world first, a Chinese surgeon performed


a remote transcontinental telesurgery from Rome on a prostate cancer patient in Beijing, over 8,000 km away. Professor Zhang Xu performed the live surgery at a conference in Italy, guiding robotic arms remotely via a surgical console to complete the delicate work of removing a lesion from the patient’s prostate. A Chinese team of medics, including a back-


up surgeon, watched the operation closely at the Third Medical Center of the People’s Liberation Army General Hospital. The delay, or latency, was only 135 milliseconds, below the 200 milliseconds standard suggested by various medical studies for telesurgery.2 A robot on the International Space


Station (ISS), remote-controlled by a team on Earth, has also simulated surgery in a historic first for space medicine. Astronauts say this work will help them fly further from Earth than ever before. The robot was developed by Virtual Incision Corporation, based in Lincoln, Nebraska, in the US. Known as spaceMIRA — which stands


for Miniaturised In Vivo Robotic Assistant — the robot performed several operations on simulated tissue at the orbiting laboratory.2


Conclusion This article highlights just some of the technologies that are advancing the field of robotic-assisted surgery. In the future, we may see greater autonomy and increased remote surgery become a reality, but in the short term, we are a long way from acceptance of this as the status quo. The general consensus is the robot will not


replace the surgeon anytime soon and the surgeon will remain ‘firmly in the driving seat’ for the foreseeable future.5


Robots offer a valuable


tool in a surgeon’s armoury and, as an increasing number of companies compete for market share, we can expect the healthcare sector to benefit from increased innovation, lower costs and wider access to robotic technologies. CSJ will be providing in-depth coverage of


the Future Surgery event, in future editions, including discussion around the application of robotic technology in UK hospitals. The event features two days of outcome-oriented educational content, cutting-edge case studies, and inspiring insight from the leaders at the frontline of surgery. For further information on the event, visit: https://www.futuresurgeryshow.com


References 1. Accessed at: https://www.edn.com/i-snake- surgical-robot-for-minimally-invasive- surgery/#:~:text=The%20%E2%80%98i- Snake%E2%80%99%20will%20incorporate%20 state%20of%20the%20art,previously%20 only%20possible%20using%20more%20 invasive%20surgical%20approaches


2. Accessed at: https://edition.cnn. com/2024/02/13/world/mira-robot-first- surgery-in-space-scn/index.html


3. https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ Market-Reports/surgical-robots- market-256618532.html?utm_source=prnews wire.com&utm_medium=paidpr&utm_ campaign=surgicalrobotsmarket


Velys robot 30 www.clinicalservicesjournal.com I October 2024


4. Accessed at: https://newseu.cgtn.com/news/ 2024-06-12/Chinese-team-perform-world-first- robotic-surgery-from-Rome-in-Beijing-1um4y x45Ixq/p.html?utm_campaign=1775703_FS24% 20%20Visprom%20%2026.07%20%20July%20 newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_ source=Healthcare%20%20Future%20 Surgery%20%20UK&hs_campaign=1775703_ FS24%20%20Visprom%20%2026.07%20%20 July%20newsletter&email=louiseframpton%40 stepcomms.com&dm_i=6TGY,12253,34BZUV,4T FP0,1


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