Robosurgeon goes to war

Robots are already taking bomb squad members and armed forces members out of harm's way, between unmanned aerial vehicles and PackBot like utility droids, but it's about time all the marvelous enhancements of soulless autonomous surgery were felt by the war wounded. Blake Hannaford and his colleagues at the University of Washington have developed a portable robotic surgery system that can be transported into battle, enabling doctors to really do their thing without borders and behind enemy lines; two really freaking scary articulating arms can get down to business on their patients with a doctor operator's signal relayed in via an unmanned aerial vehicle. Apparently there are still lots of issues with the scenario that make things difficult though, like noise, interference, and power, all of which could disrupt communications and the efficacy of Hannaford's robosurgeon -- not ideal, especially considering the fact that if something goes wrong, you don't even get some comforting bedside manner.

[sosei @ Aug 25th 2006 4:28AM]

S'interesting, except for the whole electronic-interference part.

[tubetube @ Aug 25th 2006 4:39AM]

I wouldn't really feel comfortable being operated on by a machine. This looks real scary.

[John @ Aug 25th 2006 6:01AM]

Scary! But, I guess if you're dying on the battlefield, it would be worth a go!

[Shane @ Aug 25th 2006 6:18AM]

I, for one, welcome our scalpel wielding, remotely controlled, signal interference prone robotic surgeon overlords!
(sorry, had to do it...)

[Skyler @ Aug 25th 2006 6:30AM]

I'd be damn scared. I have a large enough fear of operation, but if say the optolens on this robot read x instead of y, one slip and you could be even more screwed.

[Kenno @ Aug 25th 2006 6:40AM]

And be very very sure to get the head at the right end!

[morty salt @ Aug 25th 2006 7:43AM]

Hello, I'm HAL 9000 I will be your surgeon today are you ready for your vasectomy. Daisy, Daisy give me youoooooor answeeer plllleeez

OUCH

no, thanks I think I'll do it myself

[morty salt @ Aug 25th 2006 7:51AM]

You know somethings not quite right when your under the knife and you hear...

http://www.palantir.net/2001/tma1/wav/puzzlin.wav

[Matt @ Aug 25th 2006 7:52AM]

anybody play through all of quake 4? if you have, then you know why this is reeeeeeally scary.

[Leif @ Aug 25th 2006 11:54AM]

I'd hate to be a technician working next to that thing. All will be peachy, of course, until the doctor drops his controller instruments in the sands of Montego Bay, and the robotic arm whirls around the room and impales itself through my eye socket with surgical precision.

[Ricky @ Aug 25th 2006 1:19PM]

That robot is outdated, The da Vinci S is a new robot used commercially. The da Vinci S, originally developed for quick behind the line surgery has an optional 3rd arm toggled on and off like a shift button. The processs although seemingly scary is very much more precise then traditional open surgery. With the da Vinci S, surgeons are able to use "Minimally Invasive" techniques which cuts down bleeding and heal time. This all translates to less pain and shorter hospital stay! Check it out at http://www.intuitivesurgical.com

[WamBam @ Aug 25th 2006 5:36PM]

I draw the line at robot proctologists. Such cold, cold hands...

[Jay @ Jan 12th 2007 4:07PM]

Say Ricky, what else is Intuitive Surgical working on to improve our lives? You wouldn't happen to be employed there, would you?

Your comment is one of the most blatant, humorous and unnecessary shills I've seen (are Engadget readers a core market for a $1.3 million robot?). But it's also quite inaccurate. This robot is an academic project and certainly less polished than a product like Da Vinci, but it's not outdated. Adding a 3rd arm is a relatively simple task compared to solving the overall challenges of teleoperation. Minimally invasive techniques are rarely applicable in battlefield medicine, where bullets, shrapnel and IED explosions have already opened things up quite a bit and surgery isn't going to make matters any worse. However this robot is intended for both open and minimally invasive surgery, according to the project page at UW. The main purpose of this robot seems to be a smaller and lighter teleoperator (Da Vinci is about 7 feet tall and 900 pounds). Full Disclosure: I'm not affiliated with UW, though I have worked on a project with them.