Robotic arms come with detachable end-effectors which can be adapted
to the needs of different surgical procedures.
More than meets the eye
Prof. Yung explains how the robotic arms be inserted into the human body through the cannula for operations.
(From left) Prof. Law Wai-lun, Associate Dean of HKU's Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine; Prof. Yeung Chung-kwong, Honorary Clinical Professor of the Department of Surgery of Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine; Prof. Yung Kai-leung, Associate Dean of PolyU's Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering.
Compared to the currently dominant system on the market, which apart from needing to make multiple incisions cannot perform incision-less surgery, lacks tactile feedback and is bulky, the NSRS opens the possibility of surgery performed through natural orifices. In asking itself how that could be achieved, the PolyU team turned to the concept of articulated toys, such as the Transformer vehicles that can be dissembled and reassembled into robots. They applied this to the surgical robotic arms, fitting them with small-footprint, articulated parts that could be reassembled inside the human body, expanding and transforming as they are adapted to the needs of different surgical procedures.
Describing the team's breakthrough, Prof. Yung remarked, "We are delighted to note that this PolyU engineering innovation will help turn a new page in minimally invasive surgery, thus enhancing the well-being of patients." Yet the team is also well aware that the development process is not over yet, with very important feedback being received from surgeons and used to further optimise the system. Animal trials have validated the system's functionality and benefit in gall bladder removal in a live pig, with the latest operation taking less than an hour.
Ultimately, the NSRS will be used in a range of abdominal and pelvic surgical operations. The surgical team will now move on to more complicated procedures in animal trials and on human cadavers, taking both single-incision and natural-orifice approaches. As the PolyU team noted in explaining the importance of their work, "the future of all surgeries will be highly technologically driven with robotics as an integral part." ♦
