Doctors test for long distance robotic surgery

Dept. of Defense funding high tech video research

Imagine having the best surgeons in the world available to perform your surgery hundreds even thousands of miles away with the help of the Internet and a robot.

Long distance surgery and the impact distance will have on a surgeon's "robotic surgical performance" is being tested by Dr. Roger Smith, Florida Hospital's chief technology officer.

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Smith says the existing DaVinci surgical Robots are never more than 30 feet from the patient because that the limit of the robot's cable.
Now Smith has a machine that recreates the impact of distance on a surgeon's procedure.

The $90,000 machines called "Mimic", actually simulate "latency" or time delays, in a series of surgical video games to determine how those lags in time will effect procedures from start to finish .
Smith says he needs 100 surgeons to complete the "telesurgical simulation."

Local 6 will have an update on the project in a few weeks.


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