iblog

Virgil: It’s not a product from Apple, but perhaps the ‘i’ of the i-Snake is a homage to being yet another revolutionary gadget. The snake is a new surgical device hoping to decrease the amount of invasive surgery needed in hospitals; rather than cut people open, the long thin tube contains motors, sensors (the ‘eyes’ that surely also contribute to the moniker) and other imaging devices that will stand in for a surgeon’s hands. The snake is more flexible, dextrous and precise than any implement previously used, and will make it possible to more safely conduct operations that previously required very invasive techniques.

A team from Imperial College London has been granted 2.1 million pounds for the development of the i-Snake. They envisage the tool being used for heart bypass surgery, but also note that it could aid in any number of procedures, such as the diagnosis of problems in the guts and bowels. The ultimate aim for surgeons is to manage to conduct these procedures without any skin incisions at all. Such surgery can leave scars, keep patients in hospital far too long, and involve a much longer recovery time. Health Minister Lord Ara Dazi, who is on the development team, commented that:

“The unrivalled imaging and sensing capabilities coupled with the accessibility and sensitivity of i-Snake will enable more complex diagnostic and therapeutic procedures than are currently possible. The cost benefits that i-Snake will introduce include earlier, cheaper and less invasive treatment, faster recovery and procedure times and intangible benefits through an increase in patient care and quality of life.”

All of these procedures are to be tested in a lab before they are to be used on any real patients. However despite this caution, the innovation of the device is no doubt only the beginning of a whole range of smarter and more flexible surgery tools that are bringing us closer to the idea of an operation no longer being dangerous. Dr Ted Bianco, director of the Wellcome Trust, comments: “Gone are the days when the surgeon’s knife ruled in the operating theatre. The future of surgery is in smart devices like i-Snake.”