🔗 Share this article

Surgeons from the Scottish region and America have performed what is believed to be a world-first stroke surgery utilizing a robot.

The medical expert, associated with a research center, executed the long-distance surgery - the removal of circulatory obstructions post a stroke - on a donated body that had been donated to medical science.

The expert was positioned in a treatment center in Dundee, while the body she was operating on via the machine was across the city at the research facility.

Subsequently, a medical specialist from the American state utilized the system to carry out the pioneering long-distance operation from his Florida location on a human body in the Scottish city over significant distance away.

The team has described it as a potential "transformative advancement" if it gains clearance for clinical application.

The doctors consider this innovation could revolutionize stroke care, as a delay in accessing expert care can have a significant effect on the recovery prospects.

"It seemed like we were observing the early preview of the next generation," stated the lead researcher.

"While in the past this was thought to be science fiction, we showed that every step of the operation can now be performed."

The medical research center is the worldwide teaching facility of the World Federation for Interventional Stroke Treatment, and is the sole location in the United Kingdom where medical professionals can operate on cadavers with biological fluid circulated in the vessels to simulate procedures on a living person.

"This was the first time that we could perform the complete clot removal operation in a genuine medical subject to prove that all steps of the operation are possible," explained the primary researcher.

A healthcare leader, the head of a health foundation, described the transatlantic procedure as "a significant breakthrough".

"For too long, people living in isolated regions have been deprived of access to clot removal," she added.

"Such technological systems could correct the imbalance which exists in medical intervention across the UK."

How does the technology work?

An ischaemic stroke takes place when an artery is blocked by a clot.

This disrupts blood and oxygen supply to the cerebral tissue, and neurons stop functioning and expire.

The optimal therapy is a thrombectomy, where a surgeon uses surgical tools to extract the blockage.

But what happens when a person can't get to a professional who can do the procedure?

Prof Grunwald said the experiment demonstrated a robot could be connected to the same catheters and wires a surgeon would typically employ, and a medical staff who is attending the case could easily connect the wires.

The expert, in another location, could then manipulate and control their personal instruments, and the robot then carries out comparable motions in real time on the individual to conduct the surgical procedure.

The subject would be in a treatment center, while the surgeon could conduct the surgery with the technological system from any place - even their private dwelling.

Prof Grunwald and the American specialist could see real-time imaging of the subject in the studies, and track developments in live conditions, with the Scottish specialist stating it took just a brief period of preparation.

Technology companies Nvidia and Ericsson were involved in the project to guarantee the connectivity of the robot.

"To perform surgery from the America to the Scottish nation with a minimal delay - a blink of an eye - is absolutely amazing," stated the neurosurgeon.

The future of stroke treatment

The lead researcher, who has received recognition for her work and is also the senior official of the global healthcare association, explained there were key issues with a standard thrombectomy - a global shortage of surgeons who can do it, and intervention relies upon your physical place.

In the Scottish nation, there are just three locations people can receive the procedure - three major cities. If you aren't located nearby, you must journey.

"The intervention is extremely time-critical," stated the lead researcher.

"For every six minutes of waiting, you have a one percent reduced probability of having a positive result.

"This system would now offer a novel approach where you're not reliant upon where you live - saving the crucial moments where your neural tissue is deteriorating."

Medical statistics revealed there were {9,625 ischaemic strokes|numerous cerebral events|