Surgery
It might be OK to see a trainee tag affixed to the chest of someone serving you a burger, but quite another to see the same tag on the chest of your surgeon as you’re put under before an operation. Of course that’s not the reality with trainee surgeons getting practice alongside more experienced surgeons and on cadavers. But cadavers don’t grow on trees – thankfully – and practicing on live patients exposes them to some risk. Now two Buffalo scientists have paired up to create a new procedure-based, hands-on surgical training software system that promises to deliver effective training in emerging robot-assisted surgical techniques. Read More
The use of remotely-controlled robots to perform delicate surgery is growing. The approach offers benefits to both patients and doctors including reduced fatigue, quicker recovery times and a reduced risk of infection. Now another breakthrough in the field has been reported in the U.K., where doctors have performed a first in remote-controlled heart surgery. Read More
Anesthetists cannot take their responsibilities lightly. Too little anesthetic and a patient may feel the whole procedure, too much and a patient might shuffle off this mortal coil. Researchers in the Canary Islands have taken the guesswork out of this thorny dilemma and developed a computer-controlled system that measures a patient's hypnotic state and applies the appropriate dose of anesthetic. Read More
Blood clotting is a complex cascade of events that works well for normal cuts and scrapes, however, more serious injuries can overwhelm the body’s natural blood-clotting process. With traumatic injury the leading cause of death for people aged 4 to 44, a team of researchers has sought a way to enhance the natural blood-clotting process by creating synthetic platelets that show promise in halting internal and external bleeding. Read More
Stopping a heart from beating during surgery is a complicated and risky procedure. Robotic technology that predicts the movement of the heart as it beats, thereby enabling surgical tools to move in concert with each beat, could help cut the risks of such surgery by allowing surgeons to operate on a beating heart as if it were stationary. Read More
An engineering firm has developed a 3D bio-printer that could one day be used to create organs on demand for organ replacement surgery. The device is already capable of growing arteries and its creators say that arteries "printed" by the device could be used in heart bypass surgery in as little as five years. Meanwhile, more complex organs such as hearts, and teeth and bone should be possible within ten years. Read More
An Italian doctor has been getting dramatic results with a new type of treatment for Multiple Sclerosis, or MS, which affects up to 2.5 million people worldwide. In an initial study, Dr. Paolo Zamboni took 65 patients with relapsing-remitting MS, performed a simple operation to unblock restricted bloodflow out of the brain - and two years after the surgery, 73% of the patients had no symptoms. Dr. Zamboni's thinking could turn the current understanding of MS on its head, and offer many sufferers a complete cure. Read More
A sea creature called the sandcastle worm could hold the secret to repairing broken bones in humans. The screws and pins favored by many surgeons today have achieved much success over the years, but they are not suitable for repairing all kinds of fractures. For more precise reconstruction of compound fractures and shattered bones, bioengineers have looked beyond metal hardware and have now duplicated a natural glue secreted by the tiny sandcastle worm. The research team hopes it will provide a better solution to fixing small bones broken in battlefield injuries, car crashes and other accidents. Read More
Nanotechnology is preoccupying science to the point where it's starting to seem unremarkable. But a group of researchers from the University of Washington has released findings that could profoundly improve the chances of surviving brain cancer. The team has developed a fluorescent nanoparticle that is capable of penetrating – for the first time – the blood-brain barrier without damaging it. The fluoro nanoparticle targets tumors using a derivative of scorpion venom and enables precise imaging of the size and location of cancerous growths. When the particles meet the tumor, they light up like Christmas. Read More
Six million dollars probably wouldn’t get you much of a bionic man these days, but a new process for coating metal implants could vastly improve the lives of the growing number of people who have undergone complicated total joint replacement surgeries. The new electrochemical process improves the implants’ functionality, longevity and integration into the body by producing a coating that is virtually indistinguishable from the body’s own material. Read More
