Futurist Says: A Surge of Robots Is Entering the Operating Room

Robotic Surgery Is the Future of Medicine
by Richard van Hooijdonk

Richard van Hooijdonk (Richard van Hooijdonk) is a well-known futurist on the international stage. Hooijdonk and his international team primarily focus their research onDigital Health Trends、Robotic Surgery、Unmanned Aerial Vehicle、Internet of Things、3D & 4D PrintingSeal,Big Dataand other emerging technologies capable of influencing the industry.

The human body is a highly complex system, in which our organs, bones, muscles, blood vessels, and connective tissues must all coexist within limited space. Just a few years ago, if a surgeon needed to perform an operation on a patient, they had to make extensive incisions and then navigate through intricate human tissues, searching and dissecting their way with great difficulty before finally reaching the deep-seated organs. The adverse consequences of this approach often included unsightly scarring and prolonged healing times.

It can be said that traditional surgery still carries a relatively high risk of postoperative complications. However, the emergence of laparoscopic surgery in 1970, as the initial form of minimally invasive therapy, has transformed the entire field of surgery. By the 1990s, laparoscopic technology had experienced exponential growth; what was once considered a technology of the distant future has now become a reality.

Robotic Surgeon – da Vinci

Minimally invasive surgery will become the mainstream of future medicine, as it can reduce costs, pain, wound healing time, and disability rates. Robotic surgery assists surgeons in performing minimally invasive yet complex procedures with greater precision and controllability than traditional surgery—levels of performance that even the most stable and skilled surgeons may struggle to achieve. For instance, the da Vinci Surgical System provides an intuitive 3D visualization that enables lead surgeons to conduct flexible abdominal procedures within the patient’s body effectively.

By combining CT scans and MRI with advanced imaging technologies and augmented reality, doctors can visualize internal physiological processes in real time. This 3D virtual environment effectively renders the physician "invisible," allowing them to freely observe changes in specific anatomical regions and take appropriate interventions. For instance, since cancer spreads via the lymphatic system, this technology provides opportunities for early interference. In addition to major abdominal procedures, robotic systems are now capable of correcting vision problems, reconstructing joints, and even performing intracranial surgeries.

Surgical robots have made tremendous progress, but they remain prohibitively expensive, which explains why they are primarily deployed in clinics in developed countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, where even moderately sized hospitals are typically equipped with a surgical robot. Each da Vinci system costs up to $2 million, a figure that includes related surgical instruments and training fees to help physicians master their flexible operation.

In addition to enhancing surgeons’ physical capabilities, future robotic surgery will take place within a more powerful virtual environment, where surgeons may even be able to control the robot’s “brain.” Just imagine!(VCBeat will continue to publish articles discussing the global and Chinese applications of the da Vinci Surgical System in the near future. Please stay tuned.)

Inserting Robotic Arms Through Abdominal Ports

Director, Department of Urology, Mount Sinai Hospital, New YorkMichael PaleseApproximately 800 laparoscopic surgeries are performed annually. Many of these procedures are conducted concurrently, such as combined prostate and kidney surgeries. Robotic surgery is now widely utilized across numerous specialties, particularly in gynecology and urology, and is also employed for highly complex procedures, such as heart valve repair.

With its flexible control system, the da Vinci Surgical System actually resembles a computer game, featuring three flexible robotic arms and a 3D screen. It also consists of two components: the operating table where the robot performs the surgery, and the console from which the surgeon operates. The robotic fingertips are equipped with scalpels and scissors, mounted on the arms.Endoscopic CameraPrecise 3D graphics will be displayed to the physician.

Furthermore, robots can interpret surgeons’ movements; more precisely, upon receiving commands, the robotic arm can accurately and flawlessly enter the patient’s body through small incisions. Sounds incredible? There is even more to marvel at: in the future, we will see snake-like robotic arms entering patients’ bodies through tiny openings and then maneuvering with ease inside. Still not impressed? Here is something even more groundbreaking: this technology can also be applied toTeletherapy, at a very distant location~

Remote Abdominal Surgery for a Patient in Another Country

Remote surgery emerged in the 1970s, when technical experts at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) began exploring the feasibility of using robots to perform remote surgeries on astronauts. Since then, NASA has collaborated with the military to steadily advance robotic projects capable of practically executing remote surgeries. To clarifyRemote Robotic SurgeryHow to proceed,Mehran AnvariThe first robot-assisted remote surgery trial was conducted, primarily to help a warrior residing in the Aquarius underwater base suture a wound.

Subsequently, this robot evolved into “Zeus“The [Model Number] surgical robot is reported to have performed over 20 remote surgeries, including hernia and abdominal procedures. Anvari stationed the robotic system in the country while remotely operating from the console at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton in Canada. He stated that these remote procedures were no different from those he performed directly in the operating room; with his hands on the master controls, he directed the robot’s selection of surgical instruments as if he were holding them himself. The robotic camera served as his eyes, enabling him to communicate with the staff in real time to issue new instructions.”

OctoMags in your eyes, Shakespeare in your mind, the microscopic future is here

Currently, surgical robots have been manufactured to human scale, with each component precisely tailored to human dimensions, such as the hands and eyes. But what if we were to make a change, refining the robots to such an extent that human movements become so minute as to be nearly imperceptible? How would everything change then? It is conceivable that, at that time, surgeons would need to be renamedMicrosurgeon, this is truly not science fiction, as surgical robots have already been embedded into the eyes and bloodstream.

Robot, the Bystander of the Eyes

Researchers near Zurich have developed a device called “OctoMags” nanorobots, which can assist physicians in performing highly delicate surgeries. These tiny devices are extremely slender, with a total diameter equivalent to the thickness of four human hair strands, and are equipped with retractable probe needles, making them as thin and lightweight as scalpels. They are primarily positioned at the patient’s head and guided by magnetic electromagnetic pulses,octomagIt will assist surgeons in performing procedures in this area.

At present, microrobotic surgical technology is not yet fully mature; however, it is encouraging that it has completed its first round of experimental trials on the eye.

What do you think will happen next?

Treating Cancer at Its Root

A research team at Bar-Ilan University in Israel has begun using nanorobots for cancer treatment in patients with leukemia, primarily by injecting these nanorobots into the human body and manipulating them to destroy cancer cells.

These specially trained robots can accurately locate cancer cells and manage them at the source. The recent tests on human blood yielded excellent results, as the robots skillfully bypassed healthy cells without destroying them.

It is hoped that one day these nanorobots will become an integral part of precision medicine and surgery, treating diseases at their source and reducing the risk of side effects and complications.

Shakespeare in the Brain

From the perspective of medicine and surgery, the future of nanorobots is bright; whereas fromNeuroscience FieldThe same holds true from this perspective.

One of the founders of the MIT Media Laboratory,Nicholas Negropronte It is believed that nanotechnology should also be capable of being implanted into the human brain after data or program loading, rather than relying solely on pharmaceutical interventions. Imagine what it would feel like to communicate with the brain internally, rather than from the outside!

Theoretically, this is feasible. Nanorobots can be injected into the human bloodstream and then travel through the circulatory system to reach the nervous system. According to Negroponte’s theory, we could load the works of Shakespeare or Christopher Marlowe directly into our brains.

Struggling with Math? Seek Help from Cockroaches

A team of Israeli scientists has achieved a major breakthrough in creating nanorobots using genetic material instead of metal or plastic. The research team demonstrated that DNA can be used to construct nanorobotic devices, which were implanted into cockroaches to function as primitive biological computers. Interestingly, the scientists successfully solved basic mathematical problems by programming these biological computers.

As you can see, numerous robotic trials are being conducted worldwide every day. It seems like only yesterday that an article predicted the imminent mass production of robots as thin as a human hair, capable of traveling freely within the human body—a feat unattainable by traditional medicine. Clearly, this future is not far off; I believe that by 2020, surgical robots will have begun undergoing human clinical trials.

But the question is: Are you ready?