Small Robot Arm Can Perform In-Womb Surgery

Nobody likes the idea of going for surgery, but it is a necessary evil, so to speak, in order to bring about healing to a particular medical condition. Well, most of the surgeries are performed on children and adults, but what about those who are still in the womb? This question is about to be answered by a $17 million project that intends to successfully roll out robotic technologies which can improve on surgery on a baby that is still in the mother’s womb. Three armed robots will be assisted by an imaging camera and surgical arms, where this technology intends to eventually treat the many congenital diseases while babies remain safe in the womb

This might deliver a breakthrough that could result in reducing the number of, or perhaps even eliminating birth defects in newborns. Spina bifida happens to be such a disease, where one in around 2,500 newborns worldwide are affected, although the corrective procedure that is done right after birth will take place only in five countries around the world, according to CNN.

Scientists at University College London (UCL), and KU Leuven in Belgium hope to improve the odds of survival and recovery through the development of this tiny robotic arm that can actually enter the womb without causing too much disruption to both mother and baby, in order to correct the spina bifida condition, with the ability to handle other kinds of lesser known medical conditions, too. We are looking at this unique robot arm performing the surgery at just 16 weeks of a pregnancy, now how about that for progress?

Edwin Kee
Categories: Medical, Robots
Tags: Imaging Week, surgery