Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Robotic Microsurgery Instrument Goes Anywhere
A robotic microsurgery instrument that combines tiny robotic hands as well as a connected fiber optic camera was recently demonstrated in a TED talk by surgeon Catherine Mohr. It's the next generation of the well-known da Vinci robotic surgical system.
(Microsurgery instrument)
The device enters the body through an extremely compact tube. Once inside the body, the instruments are extruded and then they fully articulate to allow the surgeon to perform necessary tasks.
As far as I know, the earliest reference to the idea of a true microsurgical instrument occurs in the 1939 short story Massons's Secret by Raymond Z. Gallun.
In his slender hands he held a surgical instrument he had invented. It was a marvel! There was a long steel arm or standard that could be clamped on the end of an operating table. At the end of the arm was a binocular microscope. Beneath the latter were hundreds of screw buttons. And gathered right where the microscope was focused - where a needle-point beam of intense light could be projected for illumination - there was a ring of tiny metal prongs. You turned the screws below and the prongs moved - any or all of them - in any plane or direction you could mention, and with caliper slowness, minuteness and precision. At the end of each prong was a surgical tool - blades, tweezers, probes - so fine you could just see them with the naked eye.Micro-surgery!..
(Read more about Gallun's micro-surgery instrument)
As far as I can tell by looking at the medical literature in PubMed, the word "micro-surgery" was first published in 1938 in reference to using a microscope while performing a glaucoma procedure. No special instrumentation was mentioned; the prefix "micro" referred to the use of microscopy while performing surgery.
I also wanted to mention that Robert Heinlein thought of the idea of a tiny miniature hand with a microscopic eye that was created by genetic manipulation in his 1941 novel Methuselah's Children".
"...Take that extra appendage at the wrist. That's another hand, a miniature one... backed up by a microscopic eye. You can see how useful that would be, once you get used to the idea..."
Heinlein also wrote about the idea of Ultramicrominiature Waldoes for use in surgery in Time Enough For Love (1973).
Philip K. Dick was also fascinated by the idea of robotic hands for surgeons. See the references for Robot Surgeon-Hand in his 1955 short story War Veteran as well as the Interchangeable Hands in his 1965 novel The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch.
Take a look at the entire TED talk by Dr. Mohr on micro-surgical robots as well; the microsurgery material begins at about 7 minutes into the presentation.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 6/29/2009)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 3 )
Related News Stories - (" Medical ")
I Didn't Know You Can Already Buy Flesh Putty
'I filled your bullet hole with flesh putty and the lattice.'
Paradromics Implant FDA 'Breakthrough Device'
'I used my implant to tell MILLIE what we wanted...' - Pournelle and Niven, 1981.
Mice, At Least, Can Sober Up Quickly
'Then draw some aldodote-vitamin pills from the medic.' - H. Beam Piper, 1962.
Real-Life Mind-Reading With MRI
'So you see, you can hide nothing from me. I am about to know you better than anyone has ever known you.' - Daniel Suarez, 2009.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Japan's LignoSat Space Wood Satellite And Dan Simmons' Treeship
'The Consul remembered his first glimpse of the kilometer-long treeship...'
Skyline Robotics Instantiates Heinlein's 'Window Willie' Skyscraper Robot
'Do you know what window washing used to cost by the hour?'
Drone Bombings In Moscow Foreseen 100 Years Ago
'Once the target is confirmed, it uses an IR laser to send a coded signal back to the parent, clearing it to attack.'
I Didn't Know You Can Already Buy Flesh Putty
'I filled your bullet hole with flesh putty and the lattice.'
'A Sign in Space' Gives Practice In Decoding ET Messages
'... it will be easy to form an alphabet which shall enable us to converse with the inhabitants of the moon.'
Melting Permafrost Endangers Infrastructure
'From the tower's huge octagonal base radiate wide silvery strips...'
EELS Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor For Enceladus
'It was about five feet long... a black bullet head and red camera eyes.'
Lazy Lawyer's Trust In ChatGPT Misplaced
'The Law Society has strict rules on the use of pseudo-intelligent software...'
Paradromics Implant FDA 'Breakthrough Device'
'I used my implant to tell MILLIE what we wanted...'
Mice, At Least, Can Sober Up Quickly
'Then draw some aldodote-vitamin pills from the medic.'
Is It Time For Lunar Farside Telescopes?
'Mount Ambarzumian Observatory, on Farside.'
Spaceflight Vertigo Solved By NASA Releasing The Kraken
"I threw up in my helmet."
TM-62 Loitering Ground Landmine
Runaway movie comes to life!
Helpful Robots In Science Fiction
'If you douse me again... I'm donating you to a city college.'
Lunar Pogo Stick - Retro Technovelgy From 1968
'Lucky touched the leap knob...'
MIT And Rice Create Blade Runner Photo Analysis
Rick Deckard, your photo analysis is ready.
