The Medical Arm Of Medicine

The Medical Arm of Medicine

Mechanical hands can now be used for neurosurgery of the brain. New technology researched and manufactured in Calgary, Alberta, allows Doctors to guide complex neurosurgery using MRI real time imagery.
Tumours can be removed from brain tissue for example, with surgical precision helping minimize human error from hand tremors. The robotic hands are operated remotely and mimic the movements of a surgeons hands with incredible precision. Sensors, lights, and microphones recreate the sights, sounds and touch of surgery. The cost of the robot that may see service as soon as the summer of 2007, is a mere 27 million dollars.
I believe the seed for this kind of technology decends from the Canada Arm technology used on the Space Shuttle as well as what was planted years ago with the advent of the internet and teleradiology. At a Nuclear Medicine trade show in Chicago in the late 80's there was a booth getting lots of attention. It was quite impressive looking lots of military and CIA personnel around displaying images of X-rays just taken at a base in Germany. The significance of this was being able to diagnose diagnostic tests remotely thousands of miles away utilizing powerful computers and digital technology at the time thus teleradiology was born. The military applications were seen as enhancing the ability to get injured soldiers back in the line of duty as soon as possible as well as enhancing timely decisions with regards to medical treatment in saving soldiers lives.
The war machine will be happy to know now that not only will they be able to see the wounded soldiers medical problems via computerized imagery transmission, but also will be able to operate on the soldier with robotic hands being controlled from a remote station somewhere in good ole' USA while the soldier lay wounded say, in the Middle East or anywhere in the world for that matter.
I guess the military medics will not only be concerned about the biological aspects of infection from bacteria and viruses that can reap havoc on the injured in the field but also concerned with the electronic viruses that will be able to reap havoc on computerized technology increasing the fronts on which battles can be fought thus adding another dimension to the medical arena of disease treatment.
One wouldn't want the robotic hands to fail (computer crash), in the middle of removing shrapnel from the heart muscle of a wounded soldier on the battle field.
A little bit of 10w30 for the lubrication of the Robotic Hands, a software antivirus for the computer hard drive and anti-viral/anti-bacterial medication for the wounded soldier and voila ......medicine for humans and medicine for machines. I guess we were headed that way anyhow. Don't forget to shut off the power button.