Surgeons glimpse 'Fantastic Voyage'

Surgeons are using computers and robots to guide operations from half a world away.

Researchers say the technology could ultimately result in a single surgeon sitting at a console switching from operation to operation around the world.

Seventeen successful "telesurgeries" have already been conducted between the United States and Rome.



Between September 1998 and July last year, doctors from the Johns Hopkins Medical Institution in Baltimore used a combination of computers, telecommunications, videoconferencing and advanced surgical robots to guide operations taking placeat Rome's Policlinico Casilino University.

In most cases the technology was used to guide kidney operations involving laparoscopic surgery, a complicated procedure in which a thin fibre-optic scope is inserted into the body.

The small incision means the patient has less pain and blood loss than from conventional surgery and has a shorter recovery time. But surgeons need extensive training to use it, and telesurgery can help teach them.

Dr Dan Stoianovici, director of the URobotics Lab at the Johns Hopkins institution, compared the developing technology to the theme of the 1966 science fiction film Fantastic Voyage, which involved a surgical team being miniaturised and injected into a dying man.

The 17 operations were all successfully completed, although in one case problems developed with a manual control for a robotic device.

"This is still an experimental project," said Dr Stoianovici.

"As robots get better, we will be able to do more."



The technology could potentially be used on battlefields or even in space.

"If robots improve and we are really able to do all kinds of surgery, you could see a single surgeon sitting at a console switching from one surgery to another around the world."

- REUTERS