AsianScientist (Mar. 18, 2016) – In a world first, Hong Kong researchers have developed a surgical robotic system that is run by internal micro-motors and is capable of single incision or incision-less surgery. Their device helps minimize surgical trauma and improves the safety of current robotic surgery.
The project to develop a novel surgical robotic system (NSRS) with feedback of tactile sensations was initiated by Professor Yeung Chung-Kwong, honorary clinical professor at the University of Hong Kong (HKU). The NSRS, which possesses surgical robotic arms capable of up to ten degrees of freedom in movement, has been used in three successful animal surgical experiments.
Currently, there is only one dominant surgical robotic system on the market, which is expensive and has many limitations such as bulkiness and the need for multiple incisions. Furthermore, it is not designed for natural orifice robotic surgery, which doesn’t require an incision.
By contrast, NSRS, the new robotic system, has fully internally motorized surgical arms which can enter the human body through one tiny incision, or even a natural orifice, for various abdominal or pelvic surgical operations. Since the robotic arms are driven by custom-made micro-motors, they can operate with high precision and provide tactile sensations with greater sensitivity.
In the most recent successful animal experiment, a robotic cholecystectomy, or gallbladder removal, using NSRS was successfully completed within one hour in a live pig.
“It is our belief that by integrating cutting-edge technologies with the surgical robotic platform we can make future robotic surgery much safer and less invasive, thus providing significantly better care for our patients,” said Yeung.
“We will continue to test the new robotic system in animal and cadaver models for more complicated procedures, using a single-incision and natural orifice approach. Our objective is to apply this system to various robotic surgeries in humans in the near future,” said Professor Law Wai-Lun, director of the Surgical Skills Center at HKU, who carried out the animal surgeries.
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Source: University of Hong Kong.
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