Medigus Announces World's Smallest Video Camera for Medical Endoscopic Procedures

Medigus Announces World’s Smallest Video Camera

Less than 1 mm in diameter, the camera is used for medical endoscopic procedures.

PR Newswire - Omer, Israel, May 2nd, 2011 – Medigus Ltd. (TASE: MDGS) has developed the world’s smallest video camera - just 0.99 mm in diameter.

These miniature cameras are manufactured from materials suitable for human medical procedures. They are designed specifically for small-diameter disposable endoscopic devices, used in diagnostic and surgical procedures in regions of the anatomy where larger scopes are not viable. Medical fields in which such tools are required include: cardiology; orthopedics; gastroenterology; gynecology; otolaryngology, bronchoscopy and robotic surgery.

Make Way for the Robots – Automated Medical Care is a Reality

Author: Cathy Thomas

The terms “robotics” and “artificial intelligence” have been bandied about for quite some time now, and we’ve seen the advances that have been made in robotics technology and applied successfully in various industries. The world of medicine however, was lagging behind – when lives are at stake, perhaps human intuition was considered superior to robotic efficiency. However, all that is set to change in the coming decade, with research in medicinal robots advancing by leaps and bounds. In particular, robots are already being used or will soon be used in:


• Providing care for senior citizens: In a nation filled with baby boomers who don’t have caregivers and who live alone, these robots are definitely going to be a boon not just to the elderly, but also to the ailing healthcare system of this country. Charles Kemp, assistant biomedical engineering professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology and his team at the institute’s Healthcare Robotics Lab are working on robots that can safely and effectively help care for senior citizens. Ideally, the machines would be able to provide their charges with access to the Internet, remind them to take their medicines, open doors and drawers, and retrieve objects like pill bottles when guided by a laser pointer, radio signals or touch.

• Aiding surgical teams: This one’s already happening – a tiny robotic arm and workstation unit together called SpineAssist is helping surgeons map out a patient’s spinal anatomy in advance so that patients are spared of complications and pain during and after the surgery. SpineAssist helps surgeons avoid making deep incisions while repairing the spine. Over 2,000 spinal implant surgeries have been completed with a 98 percent success rate with no cases of nerve damage. The use of the robot reduced patients’ hospital stay by 33 percent and produced a 70 percent reduction in misplaced implants.

Medical Robots - Fighting The War Against Deafness

I love robots. I saw this story last week on Medical News Today titled, "Medical Robots - Fighting The War Against Deafness." The robot is an intelligent micro-drill for surgery and it will be used first for cochlear implant surgery. It will be among a number of cutting edge medical robots to be highlighted at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) 'Robotics in Surgery' conference at Birdcage Walk, London. I'd love to attend that conference. Wouldn't you?

World's first remote heart surgery completed in the UK

If you're going to have heart surgery, would you want your surgeon to be in the same room or somewhere else? The world's first remote heart surgery was completed in the UK.  Here's a snippet from the recent press release:

World first remote heart operation to be carried out in Leicester using robotic arm

Expert at University of Leicester and Glenfield Hospital to conduct pioneering treatment

A pioneering world first robotics system operation is to be conducted at Glenfield Hospital Leicester thanks to expertise at the University of Leicester and University Hospitals of Leicester.

Dr André Ng, Senior Lecturer in Cardiovascular Sciences at the University of Leicester and Consultant Cardiologist and Electrophysiologist, Glenfield Hospital, University Hospitals of Leicester, is the first person in the world to carry out the operation remotely on patients using this system.

He will use the Catheter Robotics Remote Catheter Manipulation System for the first time in a heart rhythm treatment procedure.

The system is novel because it allows a doctor to carry out a common heart treatment procedure remotely using a robotic arm.

You can read more at Science Daily.

First Robotic Assisted Kidney Transplant

According to Medical News Today, the first robotic assisted kidney transplant took place at Saint Barnabas Medical Center. Here's a snippet from the news story: "Transplant surgeon, Stuart R. Geffner, M.D., Director of Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Surgery, Saint Barnabas Health Care System Renal and Pancreas Transplant Division, is the first in the world to use the Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci Surgical System to successfully implant a kidney into a living recipient."

The Saint Barnabas Renal and Pancreas Transplant Division has programs at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, N.J. and Newark Beth Israel Medical Center.

Robotic Surgery Like Star Trek

Dr. David B. Samadi, Chief, Division of Robotics and Minimally Invasive Surgery Mount Sinai School of Medicine, has a Forbes press release on his site titled, 'Star Trek' Surgery. Now that's my kind of title.

We have seen some tremendous advances in robotic surgery over the last decade. Intuitive Surgical, Inc. has a robot that has three or four extendable arms that a surgeon can control from a console in the operating room. The da Vinci robot has been around for many years and is used for various types of surgery including robotic prostatectomy for prostate cancer. Intuitive has sold 1,171 da Vinci systems around the world at an average price of $1.5 million. Image Source: Robotic Oncology by David B. Samadi, M.D.