“Surgery of the Future” is a virtual operating room that showcases government-funded technologies being developed to make surgery safer, more effective, and less invasive.
Tremendous strides have been made in surgical outcomes during the past 50 years, thanks in large part to the development of a wide range of biomedical technologies. For example, advances in imaging have made it easier for surgeons to plan surgical approaches so that they avoid cutting through healthy tissue, while robotic technologies have enabled surgeons to operate inside smaller incisions with greater accuracy and precision.
So what novel surgical technologies can we expect in the future? The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) offers a sneak-peek with their new “Surgery of the Future” interactive experience. Users can click on objects in a 3D virtual operating room to learn about a number of futuristic advances.
There are robots that can stitch tissues by themselves, biomaterials that dissolve or expand once inside the body, and a tool that can reduce a surgeon’s natural hand tremor while operating.
Visit www.nibib.nih.gov/Surgery-of-Future to download the app and watch a video promo.
This article was adapted from information provided by NIBIB.