Remote Heart Surgery Success By Robotic Arm

So, what does the future mean? Apparently it means getting rid of the human element as much as possible. Or, completely. Now, we can't necessarily say that we want to be the next people on the surgery table, especially if there's a robotic arm finding its way into our torso. But, then again, this was a success, so, maybe it's not so bad after all.

Over across the pond, in Leicester, UK, a cardiologist working out of Glenfield Hospital has successfully completed the very first heart surgery, using nothing but a remote robotic arm and an Internet connection. The whole thing was made possible by the Remote Catheter Manipulation System, which was built by the Catheter Robotics team located in New Jersey, United States. Apparently though, due to the procedure itself, the patient needs to be under constant X-Rays, to help monitor the situation and the position of the robotic arm.

That seems to be the only glaring problem with the procedure. Well, if you don't count the fact that the surgeon isn't in the room, but if you like the whole idea of being worked on by a robot (even if it is just an appendage), then you should head on over to the UK where you can get that kind of thing done. Anyone out there think that this is where modern medicine should be heading?

[via Ubergizmo]