Would you trust to undergo the knife wielded by a robot for brain surgery, or would want to look towards a human behind the knife instead? I guess it is a matter of perspective, and Mazor Robotics certainly place their money on the former. After all, they are the developer of innovative surgical robots, having recently announced the first ever robot-guided brain surgical procedures that were made possible thanks to their technology. Neurosurgeons Dr. In-Se Kim and Prof. Robert Schönmayr actually performed the first three cases at HSK Hospital, (Horst Schmidt Kliniken GmbH) in Wiesbaden, Germany.
I guess at the end of the day, with a human behind the robot, it is somewhat the same because the robot just functions as an extension of the surgeon, and would be able to offer more precise handling of sensitive bits and pieces under that thick skull of us human beings. Obviously, it will require regulatory clearance for the brain application to see action in the US as well as across the pond, but regulatory clearance should see the brain application be made available sometime as early as next year. [Press Release]
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