Robot operates inside eye in world first

DougC · #1 by **DougC** » Sep 10, 2016 1:46 am

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-37246995

B.B.C. Article
Surgeons have used a robot to operate inside the eye and restore sight - in a world first.
A team at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital used the device, controlled via a joystick, to remove a membrane one hundredth of a millimetre thick.
Patient Bill Beaver, 70, a curate in Oxford, said it was "a fairytale".
Surgeons hope the procedure will pave the way for more complex eye surgery than is currently possible with the human hand.
The BBC had exclusive access to the procedure.

(Continues)

tuco · #2 by **tuco** » Sep 10, 2016 1:57 am

This is why playing video games is not necessarily bad for kids, even future surgeons :)

felltoearth · #3 by **felltoearth** » Sep 10, 2016 2:39 am

Fantastic voyage?

felltoearth · #4 by **felltoearth** » Sep 10, 2016 2:42 am

'I can see'
Rev Beaver said: "It's almost the world of fairy tales but it's true. I'm just fortunate that I'm the first to have it."

First step in a journey to separate fairy tales from the truth.

DavidMcC · #5 by **DavidMcC** » Dec 17, 2016 1:41 pm

felltoearth wrote:Fantastic voyage?

Yeah! Except they didn't have to miniaturise anyone in the real version!

crank · #6 by **crank** » Dec 17, 2016 9:08 pm

It won't come too soon when people will think how crazy it was back when they used to let humans, FFS, perform surgery.

Macdoc · #7 by **Macdoc** » Dec 18, 2016 12:02 am

Quite remarkable 1/100th of a mm .....for certain no human hand unassisted can pull that off.

igorfrankensteen · #8 by **igorfrankensteen** » Dec 19, 2016 2:18 am

I am still hoping I live long enough to gain access to all sorts of miniaturized robots, to perform lots of tasks I can only do relatively crudely now. Such as brushing my teeth.

crank · #9 by **crank** » Dec 20, 2016 4:03 am

Wasn't one of Isaac Asimov's books about this exact thing?