STIFF-Flop performed first human surgery
"A team of roboticists, engineers and surgeons at King’s College London have for the first time operated on a human body using a soft surgical robot as part of keyhole surgery, with the aim of dramatically improving future surgical practice. Under the guidance of expert surgeons, the team used the robot to operate on human cadavers as well as medical manikins. Once inserted into the body through a small incision in the abdomen, known as a Trocar port, the new robot provides surgeons with unparalleled video feedback from inside the body, making it ideal for abdominal surgery. Taking inspiration from soft-bodied animals, the team from the EU funded Stiffness controllable Flexible and Learnable manipulator for surgical operations (STIFF-FLOP) project have already made new ground creating robotic devices specifically for minimally invasive surgery (MIS), opening up areas previously inaccessible to surgeons using current keyhole surgery techniques. "
STIFF-FLOP robotic surgery from National Museums Scotland on Vimeo.
Source: KCL, STIFF-FLOP
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