Surgeons on Earth control robot in space for the first time

Earth-based surgeons last weekend controlled a small robot aboard the International Space Station (ISS), in the first orbital surgery in history, although for now applied to a rubber tissue.

The experiment, described as a “huge success” by participants, represents a new step in the development of space surgery, which will be necessary to treat medical emergencies during the multiple manned trips that will be made in the coming years, such as the one to Mars.

The technology could be used to develop remotely controlled surgery techniques on Earth, to treat patients in remote areas.

The robot, developed by Virtual Incision (VIC) and the University of Nebraska, and called spaceMIRA, was launched to the ISS in late January aboard a SpaceX rocket.

Sent inside a box the size of a microwave, the robot was installed by NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara, who has been in space since September.

The experiment took place on Saturday and was run from Virtual Incision's headquarters in Lincoln, Nebraska.

It lasted about two hours, with six surgeons taking turns operating the robot equipped with a camera and two arms.

“The experiment tested standard surgical techniques such as shaving, manipulating and cutting tissue. The simulated tissue was made from rubber bands,” Virtual Incision said in a statement.

In a video shared by the company, an arm equipped with tweezers can be seen picking up the rubber band and stretching it, while another arm equipped with scissors cuts, simulating a dissection.

A key difficulty is the time delay of about 0.85 seconds between the operations center on Earth and the ISS.

The same experiment, with the same equipment, will be carried out on Earth.

“The experiment was considered a huge success by surgeons and researchers, and there were few or no setbacks,” added the company, which predicts that this test will “change the future of surgery.”

NASA, which provides financial support for the project, said that with increasingly longer space missions, “the potential need for emergency care increases, including surgical procedures from suturing to more complex operations.”