This week, a team of developers reported a successful test of the world’s first robot surgeon, controlled remotely, for work in space.
Miniature robotic assistant for internal operations (spacemira) was tested on rubber ribbons imitating elastic fabrics, such as tendons and blood vessels. During the experiment held in a special block the size of a microwave oven, 10 rubber tapes were installed, which were cut to surgeons who worked remotely from Lincoln, Nebraska, in the headquarters of the Virtual Incision. This company, in collaboration with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), was engaged in the creation of Spacemira.
Spacemira, similar to its earthly double mira, differs exceptionally small dimensions for the robot designed for remote surgical operations. Unlike large devices occupying a whole room, Mira and its cosmic version have a length of only about 30 inches and a weight of two pounds. The main difference between Mira and Spacemira is the possibility of the latter to carry out operations remotely and perform pre-programmed tasks.
Surgeons at a distance of 250 miles from the ISS had to encounter a signal delay between control and receiving a response from Spacemira, which is from two-thirds to three quarters of a second.
A surgeon from Lincoln, Michael Jobst, who was the first to take up control, noted that it was necessary to wait a bit of movement, and it is definitely slower than familiarly in the operating room. Jobst regularly participated in Mira tests on Earth and even conducted operations in public.
To compensate for the delay, the SpaceMira engineers set up control so that to perform actions by the robot, surgeons need to make larger movements. CNN broadcast Personnel experiment that Virtual Incision shared.
Spacerara was delivered to the ISS at the end of January using the Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo ship launched on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
Space medicine progress is necessary for future missions. Given the limited space on