Robotic Surgery

Perhaps robotic surgery and the use of nanorobots in medicine will sound a little science fiction oriented to you, but let's be clear that it is science fact and it is happening right now.

Some of the advantages of robotic surgery are precision, access to large databases of similar surgeries, miniaturization such as the use of fine instruments or nanobots, small or no incisions, less loss of blood, remote surgical procedures, high definition 3D and stereoscopic magnification and quicker healing times.

Some of the companies that are currently involved or have in the past been involved in robotic surgery include da Vinci Surgery, Zeus and Computer Motion. The da Vinci robotic surgery system can be used for a wide range of ailments such as prostate cancer, hysterectomies, heart problems, kidney disorders, bladder diseases and obesity.

Some of the robotic surgery devices are still controlled by surgeons who may use several arms of the robot for the surgical procedure including a high definition camera. One of the most exciting aspects of robotic surgery is that it has been used successful remotely with doctors and patients residing of different continents at the time of the procedure.

In one robotic surgery procedure in 2006 on a heart patient, the robot contained a database of over 10,000 similar cases as reference, and performed more soundly than most human heart surgeons.

Successful robotic surgery has been performed for heart bypasses, gall bladder procedures including reconstruction, kidney transplants, cancer treatment, pancreas treatment, prostate treatment, liver resections and coronary bypasses.

There are a few other advantages of robotic surgery as well. For instance, some of the devices manned by a doctor will take into account the minimal shakiness of a surgeon's hands and compensate for this. Some robotic surgery may include the creation of small punctures instead of incisions which means no scars and quicker healing time for patients. More favorable mortality rates for certain diseases and conditions are other advantages.

Now, medical nanorobots can also be used for surgical procedures along with other functions. For instance, microscopic nanobots can travel through the human bloodstream to a particular location and perform microsurgery on a cell by cell basis.

These medical nanobots can also travel to locations within the human body and deliver drugs to very specific locations as well. Medical nanorobots are seen as the future of medicine in regard to fighting all kinds of diseases on a microscopic scale.

To recap, robotic surgery has been around since the mid 1980's and is becoming increasingly sophisticated and commonplace. Thousands of robotic surgical procedures are performed each year on a variety of conditions and diseases. A fast emerging field is that of the use of medical nanorobots. Both robotic surgery and the use of medicinal nanorobots will increase dramatically in the next 5 to 10 years.