Michelle Dickinson: nanotechnologist on the pig that underwent telesurgery from 9,000 kilometres away

The Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin

A pig in Hong Kong just underwent surgery - which might not seem strange until you learn that the surgeon operating on the pig did so from 9,300 kilometres away.

While telehealth became more common during the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s still the norm that a surgeon needs to be physically present for operations. In a massive leap forward for telesurgery and published in the journal Advanced Intelligent Systems, the endoscopy was performed by a researcher sitting in Zurich, Switzerland showcasing how cutting-edge technology and a superfast internet connection can bridge huge distances in medical procedures.

The anesthetised pig had a specially designed endoscope inserted into its stomach by local surgeons in Hong Kong. The endoscope’s magnetic head allowed it to be bent in any direction, making it smaller and easier to manoeuvre than traditional devices. It was also equipped with a tiny gripper, allowing scientists to take tissue samples from the stomach wall remotely. The endoscope was controlled using a PlayStation controller which maneuverer it with only a 300-millisecond delay.

This smaller, more manoeuvrable endoscope holds great promise for future medical procedures, especially as it could be used in human patients via the nose instead of the mouth which would be more comfortable for patients, require lighter sedation, and be a better solution for children.

Telesurgery has been tested before, when scientists on Earth successfully operated a surgical robot on the International Space Station (ISS), however that experiment involved a much shorter distance of only 400 kilometres.

As for the pig, it came through the procedure unscathed, blissfully unaware of the ground-breaking role it played in advancing medical science.

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