TheZeus robotic surgical system will be used to perform a gall bladderremoval on a special training dummy. The following circumstances areunusual: the experiment is being carried out sixty feel under the seain the Aquarius Lab off Key Largo, Florida. And the experiment is beingperformed by NASA; if this experiment is successful, astronauts willeventually be able to recieve emergency care while serving on board theInternational Space Station.
(From Zeus robotic system)
The Zeus systemshown above is controlled by a surgeon sitting at a remote console. Inthe NEEMO 7 experiment, the "patient" is off Key Largo and the surgeonis in Canada, 1300 miles away. NASA officials would like to have a safealternative to bringing an astronaut back down from the space station -at a cost of 500 million dollars. The system actually has a number ofadvantages right here on Earth; fatigue is reduced because the surgeondoes not need to constantly hold instruments and ordinary muscletremors are filtered out.
Telemedicine also played a role in the excellent science fiction novel Starfishby Peter Watts. The primary action in the novel takes place near a deepundersea rift; as with astronauts, it is very time-consuming andexpensive process to retrieve workers from these depths. So, the authorposits the use of a medical mantis:
Tags: AI,Art,Articulate,robot,WORK,机器人,机器人信息,机器人信息There's this prayingmantis a meter long, all black with chrome trim, hanging upside downfrom the ceiling of the Medical cubby. ..it hovers over his face,jointed arms clicking and dipping like crazy articulated chopsticks…
The mantis stops in midmotion, its antennae quivering… "Hello, er-Gerry, isn't it?" it says at last. "I'm Dr. Troyka." (Read more.)