DailyDirt: Tiny Robot Surgeons

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Minimally invasive surgery requires surgical tools that are pretty small, obviously. As technology allows robots to get smaller and smaller, it's increasingly possible for tiny robots to perform complex medical procedures -- improving recovery times and avoiding unnecessary tissue damage. Check out a few of these robot projects that could make going under the knife a little less unpleasant.

• Research on Drosophila could be automated by a $5,000 robot that can perform brain surgery on fruit flies and analyze 1,000 flies in less than a day. Graduates students will have a ton more data to work with -- without having to squint through a microscope and fumbling with tweezers. [url]
• Cyberplasm sounds like a horrible name for a medical robot that could swim around inside your body looking for evidence of disease. A painless and convenient robot that replaces invasive surgical procedures will probably trump the name, though. [url]
• An intracranial robot inspired by maggots feeding off dead flesh could remove brain tumors more effectively than current methods. A prototype robot is under development, and it could improve the outcomes of some neurosurgeries. [url]

After you've finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.

Filed Under: automation, biomimicry, cyberplasm, drosophila, health, medicine, robots, surgery