Heart surgery by robotics one step closer to reality

Washington, December 12 (ANI): Scientists have come one step closer to the day when computers may actually start performing surgery with the development of a computerized 3D model that lets surgeons to use robotics to operate on a beating heart.

Rogério Richa, Philippe Poignet and Chao Liu from France's Montpellier Laboratory of Informatics, Robotics, and Microelectronics, have come up with the "thin-plate spline deformable model" that tracks the motion of the heart's surface as it beats.

The robotic technology predicts the movement of the heart as it beats in a single step, making it faster in real-life surgical environments.

The new 3D computerized approach allows the robotic arm to continually adjust to heart and chest movements during surgery.

The study was in The International Journal of Robotics Research, published by SAGE. (ANI)