Credit: Provided by Vanderbilt University
Summary:
A team of engineers are using magnetic force to design new and improved instruments for minimally invasive surgery. The use of magnetic actuation allows them to create tools that are more flexible and more powerful than conventional designs, which place the instruments on the end of long sticks.
The first device of this type that they have designed is an organ retractor that repositions organs like the liver when required for an operation. They are also applying this approach to create new laser and radio-frequency scalpels.Full Text:
A team of engineers are using magnetic force to design new and improved instruments for minimally invasive surgery. The use of magnetic actuation allows them to create tools that are more flexible and more powerful than conventional designs, which place the instruments on the end of long sticks. The first device of this type that they have designed is an organ retractor that repositions organs like the liver when required for an operation. They are also applying this approach to create new laser and radio-frequency scalpels.
