Waseda University's heartbeat compensation robot be stills our hearts

Look closely. No, closer. See that slab of pink meat in the middle of Waseda University's surgical robot? That's a heart... now imagine it's your heart. Don't worry, if you ever do pit flesh-to-servo against this device, it'll likely be saving your life during a coronary bypass. After making a small incision, the robot compensates for the natural shake and movement of the organ caused by heartbeats so that surgery can proceed as if the organ is still. That little trick could enable minimally invasive, endoscopic heart surgeries in the future -- no need to crack open the chest cavity. Amazing stuff. See a close-up after the break. You: it's what's for dinner.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 27th 2009 4:54AM]

Truly is amazing, post aside...im speechless. before we you know it scientist will be engineering (like growing them) vital organs. Im 24 i really believe this ill go down in my life time...of course assuming i go the distance.

[PBR Posted Mar 27th 2009 5:02AM]

Shoot, who knows? Maybe they might even manage to be able to teach you how to spell and write in your lifetime!

[Funke Tobias Dr Posted Mar 27th 2009 5:06AM]

Who is "they"?

[milkywayer Posted Mar 27th 2009 6:31AM]

Guys,
Stop being pricks. I agree with Austin. Its a great achievement, I hope we go further ahead to improve human life on this planet and beyond.

@CPR & Funke
Shove your grammar and pessimistic n00bism up yer n00b ar***. This not your fu**ing KG class. You need better grammer, go browse TOEFL.com.

[Funke Tobias Dr Posted Mar 27th 2009 6:36AM]

Abbas, you need to work on your reading comprehension. I was giving CPR a hard time for being a grammar nazi in the first place. Pay attention!

[PBR Posted Mar 27th 2009 8:51AM]

For "Funk" and "Abbas..."

"They" is those who might instill upon Austin the art of being articulate, or those have have thus far failed miserably.

[drumdbeat Posted Mar 27th 2009 9:24AM]

"...or those have have thus far failed miserably."

Who has has failed now?

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 27th 2009 9:57AM]

Agreed.

I love nothing more than advances in medicine. It saves lives, and all you guys can think about upon commenting on this is grammar.

[Phenoum Posted Mar 27th 2009 10:31AM]

Speaking of.....I'm 23 myself and....

I'm currently growing pancreas B-cells (produce insulin) from skin cells (Fibroblasts -> iPS -> Pancreatic cells) - not near clinical trials for a few years personally - but I'm just a MS student. Definitely going to see some massive leaps in our lifetime. Just think about it:
- Go to the doctors office and let them take a skin biopsy (small hole-punch)
- wait 1-4 months
- go in and have pancreatic cells implanted (which have your very own DNA btw) - no immunorejection
- Type 1 Diabetes treated (cured?)

Looking at seeing this as a feasible - although expensive - option within 10 - 15 years imo.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 27th 2009 1:30PM]

@CPR

you are an idiot of grand proportions. There is a difference (a big one) between not being able to "spell" and not proof reading for grammatical errors. Okay so i mistakenly typed "we you" (as opposed to just "we"), "ill" ( as opposed to "will"), and prob should have put "and" after "I am 24"...and that means i cannot spell or write?
lol. Dude It was 4am in the morning, i had not slept for nearly 72 hours due to trouble shooting these damn computers, i come on here for a late night break just to see what's up, I am taken away by some nice tech news and i decide to leave a comment, EXCUSE me for not proof reading. I am guilty as charged (of not proof reading).

As for you Mr. G Nazi....
so that is my excuse for not proof reading whats yours? lol. You see sometimes in life when you are overly Anal about such mundane things you keep your self open and flexible for something even LARGER up yours....haha.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 27th 2009 5:03AM]

jesus christ a little warning please?

[bakertony Posted Mar 27th 2009 8:47AM]

Warning: You're a wimp ;-)
Seriously, "See a close-up after the break", what did you think that would be a close up of when talking about a robot that operates on hearts? Dah...

[Brian J Posted Mar 27th 2009 12:57PM]

>=|

*SMACK*

[recyclist Posted Mar 27th 2009 5:11AM]

When I was a medical student, I got to watch the CT surgeons do some off-pump bypasses - Even seeing it, I couldn't understand how those guys could throw such itty-bitty, precise stitches on such a small, moving target. Robotic surgery is great (I do GYN, which has been at the forefront of robotic surgery), but I think the humans who perform bypasses are even more amazing.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 27th 2009 5:29AM]

GYN as in women's naughty bits?

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 29th 2009 10:43PM]

I've never heard of robotic GYN surgery. Around here (Philly) it seems like it's most popular application is in prostate surgery. They claim it decreases the risk of severing nerves so that you don't end up with E.D.

[glenskey Posted Mar 27th 2009 5:23AM]

i am so saving that picture

[thazlett144 Posted Mar 27th 2009 5:38AM]

heartbeat compensation robot five!

[stridermt2k Posted Mar 27th 2009 8:07AM]

-and yet still seems cold and aloof compared to the tenderness of Soul-bot.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 27th 2009 10:05AM]

It can also convert people to Cybermen.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 27th 2009 10:11AM]

This is clearly a trick by the robot alliance to gain access to the very organs which keep us alive.

[brett Posted Mar 27th 2009 10:56AM]

reminded me of this link from a previous engadget post:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/mar/22/medicalresearch

pretty amazing stuff. for those a little bit in the dark, imagine being able to operate on a moving organ, which, on the viewing screen, appears to be stationary! i think it may take some time before this becomes standard practice, let alone endoscopic, but the research is awesome. minimally invasive surgery cuts down on the time patients spend in post-op recovery and overall heathcare costs as a result.

[LPD Posted Mar 27th 2009 11:54AM]

Looks like legs and table top is from stock pieces from TSOLTS.COM very cool.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 27th 2009 1:34PM]

And when the operation is over, the heart is dropped into a blender underneath the robot. The robot drinks the heart smoothie then laughs until it is turned off.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 27th 2009 6:07PM]

nice for the airplane rides