Robotic Surgery

This forum is currently archived and READ-ONLY
User avatar
yogi
Posts: 9978
Joined: 14 Feb 2015, 21:49

Robotic Surgery

Post by yogi »

As I grow older and have more exposure to people in the medical field, I've come to understand and appreciate the role of technology in medicine. Robotics is big these days because machines can do things that even the most skilled surgeons cannot. For example, a research team at the University of Utah have come up with a combination of CAT scans and a robotic arm to do brain surgery. The bot can cut into the skull in 2.5 minutes while the equivalent human takes two hours to do the same thing. Amazing stuff here:

https://futurism.com/this-robot-complet ... 5-minutes/
User avatar
Kellemora
Guardian Angel
Guardian Angel
Posts: 7494
Joined: 16 Feb 2015, 17:54

Re: Robotic Surgery

Post by Kellemora »

The best thing about robotics is, they don't come to work drunk, too old and shaky, or overly tired from overwork.
My mom's eye surgery was done using computer aided surgery equipment. Not as fancy as robotics, but still it was super fast and accurate. She was in and out in under thirty minutes, and most of that time was just waiting, hi hi...
User avatar
yogi
Posts: 9978
Joined: 14 Feb 2015, 21:49

Re: Robotic Surgery

Post by yogi »

A robot took out my prostate gland that was full of cancer. The doctor was in a control room a good ten feet away from the operating table, but had a battery of 3D monitors with which to work his magic. It too was cleaner, quicker, and more accurate than any human hand could do which amounted to a quicker recovery time for me. I see a lot of talk about robots with artificial intelligence. It would not surprise me to see no need for actual humans other than the patient to be involved with future surgeries.
User avatar
Kellemora
Guardian Angel
Guardian Angel
Posts: 7494
Joined: 16 Feb 2015, 17:54

Re: Robotic Surgery

Post by Kellemora »

I see more and more doctors entering diagnosis data into computers to verify their suspicions. Some day they may just slip a device over our finger, like they do with pulse oximeters and be able to know everything about us.

Speaking of which. I talked with a technician at an instruments science lab once and although I didn't understand his technical answer, I had simply asked. If they can read your O2 with a little finger clip, why not glucose levels so folks with diabetes don't have to draw blood four or more times a day.
He said his company has been working on such an idea ever since he started working there some six years earlier, and they are no closer now than they were back then. They have had a few breakthoughs for testing blood without using disposable strips, but the cost for each test would be much higher than the disposable strips.
One thing they were working on back then was an almost invisible port that would become a part of your body, because it was made from your own body, so it would not be a foreign object that could be rejected. Again too expensive to have the procedure done. They also worked on a way to kill nerve cells in a small 1/8th inch area of the inside of your arm so you would never feel the pin prick, but the agencies involved would never approve such a cheap and simple procedure.
User avatar
yogi
Posts: 9978
Joined: 14 Feb 2015, 21:49

Re: Robotic Surgery

Post by yogi »

Do you mean something like this?: https://www.dexcom.com/get-started-cgm
User avatar
pilvikki
Posts: 2999
Joined: 16 Feb 2015, 21:35

Re: Robotic Surgery

Post by pilvikki »

after listening in on doctors' conversations pre surgery, i've noooo problem with a robot. and it's stunning what they will talk about standing next to you, not even aware enough of your being awake. :bleh:
User avatar
yogi
Posts: 9978
Joined: 14 Feb 2015, 21:49

Re: Robotic Surgery

Post by yogi »

Shop talk. You are just another job laying there cut open on the operating table. They should know, however, if you are awake or not.
User avatar
Kellemora
Guardian Angel
Guardian Angel
Posts: 7494
Joined: 16 Feb 2015, 17:54

Re: Robotic Surgery

Post by Kellemora »

Those Dexcoms have been out for several years now.
Besides the initial cost, they still cost close to a grand per year for the sensors, which need replaced every few days.
Strips are still the affordable way to go!
User avatar
yogi
Posts: 9978
Joined: 14 Feb 2015, 21:49

Re: Robotic Surgery

Post by yogi »

My point is that the technology is there. Whether people use it or not is another story.
User avatar
pilvikki
Posts: 2999
Joined: 16 Feb 2015, 21:35

Re: Robotic Surgery

Post by pilvikki »

and well, everything gets cheaper. eventually.

as for the shop talk, no problem, the more stress a job gives people, the mouthier they get. i get it. but, when my daughter is on that table and i need to prompt the anesthesiologist to check the monitor - where her b/p is sinking lower and lower, i do get irate!
User avatar
Kellemora
Guardian Angel
Guardian Angel
Posts: 7494
Joined: 16 Feb 2015, 17:54

Re: Robotic Surgery

Post by Kellemora »

I guess it boils down to whether insurance will cover it, and how fast it will run someone into the donut hole if the insurance does cover it at all.
Insurance currently does not cover Insulin, and they charge an arm and a leg for that stuff, even though the patents ran out decades ago.
User avatar
yogi
Posts: 9978
Joined: 14 Feb 2015, 21:49

Re: Robotic Surgery

Post by yogi »

Kellemora wrote:Those Dexcoms have been out for several years now.
Besides the initial cost, they still cost close to a grand per year for the sensors, which need replaced every few days.
Strips are still the affordable way to go!
Then there is this: http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/new-apple- ... 6-05-2017/
User avatar
Kellemora
Guardian Angel
Guardian Angel
Posts: 7494
Joined: 16 Feb 2015, 17:54

Re: Robotic Surgery

Post by Kellemora »

Hi Yogi
I may be wrong, but I think several companies are looking into releasing a wrist worn continuous glucose monitoring meter.
From what I've read about them so far, they use an Implant just under the skin in the wrist area.
Although the companies who make the wrist worn devices, which can include other things like a watch, etc.
Approval for the implant is probably still a few years away yet. It takes time to get these things approved.
So even if Apple sells the watch, it may not function as a glucose meter until the implants are approved.
At least the implant don't have to be changed every few days or weeks, but I'll bet it needs changed periodically.
Still, it's good advice to know, and hear they are making strides in that direction.
User avatar
yogi
Posts: 9978
Joined: 14 Feb 2015, 21:49

Re: Robotic Surgery

Post by yogi »

There is no mention of how Apple is going to do the glucose monitoring. If it is indeed invasive then ten years of trials would probably be the minimum before the government approves. There is a vague memory in my head about an article I read a long time ago where somebody had a patent on measuring blood sugar without needing to poke an artery. If my guess is right, Apple bought that company and will be going after the wearable health meter market soon. :grin:
User avatar
Kellemora
Guardian Angel
Guardian Angel
Posts: 7494
Joined: 16 Feb 2015, 17:54

Re: Robotic Surgery

Post by Kellemora »

Well, things might be getting very close to release.
Different devices not requiring anything placed under the skin have been out for almost ten years already.
Gluco-M has been out that long, but their GlucoWatch went defunct real quick.
K-Track, Garmin, and of course Dexcom are all working on wearable wrist devices, and each have their own way of doing things.
I think they are on the right track with the Gluco-M but trying to make it do too much is holding it back from popular use, well, also the high price tags on these items. They all want them to exchange data, so dad can watch his kids, etc. Or to control an insulin pump, which could be scary the way hackers get into things.
User avatar
yogi
Posts: 9978
Joined: 14 Feb 2015, 21:49

Re: Robotic Surgery

Post by yogi »

The Internet of Things is a blessing and a nightmare all at the same time. I don't think the trend can be stopped, however. The bots and artificial intelligence is upon us already. It's just a matter of when they will take over.
User avatar
Kellemora
Guardian Angel
Guardian Angel
Posts: 7494
Joined: 16 Feb 2015, 17:54

Re: Robotic Surgery

Post by Kellemora »

Wish I could afford a couple of robots to do my work.
I hired a yard man for a few days to get my bushes in shape.
He basically did everything but, trying to drag it out to a full-time job.
So far he has killed about six bushes, and knocked down a retaining wall where he wasn't even supposed to be working.
Then, after demolishing some siding with his weed whacker, he managed to break the glass in my thermopane door.
I told him he was finished, and I can now handle the rest.
I can't afford the damage he has already done, much less any more he will do.

On a similar not, I miss the really old 1940s to '50s tools we used to have.
Like a Cub tractor with a sickle bar that worked both horizontally and vertically.
Sure beats trying to use hedge trimmers and weed whackers, hi hi...
We used to have an old Step-Van with a one-lung flywheel engine on top to run a sickle bar at that height.
It was used to keep the hedge row around our property cut perfectly level. And to trim tree branches mostly using hand saws in the early days, then chain saws later on.
I guess when only one or two people need to take care of 16 acre and a 20 acre perimeters, it made good sense to have those things.
User avatar
yogi
Posts: 9978
Joined: 14 Feb 2015, 21:49

Re: Robotic Surgery

Post by yogi »

I always wanted a brush cutter but never had more than half an acre of wooded area to play in. I couldn't justify the price. I did make good use of hedge trimmers. I had one gas powered and one electric powered. Then again, all I had was overgrown honeysuckle. Also would have loved to own a Bobcat front loader. LOL I love power tools but don't have a need for many of them these days.
User avatar
Kellemora
Guardian Angel
Guardian Angel
Posts: 7494
Joined: 16 Feb 2015, 17:54

Re: Robotic Surgery

Post by Kellemora »

I have quite a few, but unfortunately, since my heart attacks, I don't have the energy to use them. But I'm working on it by going to cardiac rehab three days a week. Trouble is, my heart cannot get any better, the idea is just to help keep it strong enough to do part of what it is supposed to do. I also have COPD and Emphysema, the bad kind that retains CO2 and in turn is poisoning my system. My O2 ranges from 96 to 98 which is great, but I cannot breath out CO2, so feel like I'm suffocating, and oxygen won't help and only make the problem worse.
It's the pits getting olde, hi hi...
User avatar
pilvikki
Posts: 2999
Joined: 16 Feb 2015, 21:35

Re: Robotic Surgery

Post by pilvikki »

well, don't that sound horrid enough!

i don't quite understand how that works though: if you don't breath the CO2 out, where does it go?
Locked