Robot drill for faster surgery

A new computer-driven robotic drill that can make a type of complex cranial surgery 50 times faster than standard procedures has been developed by scientists including one of Indian origin.

The automated drill, similar to those used in machine auto parts, produces fast, clean and safe cuts, reducing the time the wound is open and the patient is anaesthetised.

This can decrease the incidence of infection, human error, and surgical cost, according to the findings published in the journal Neurosurgical Focus. To perform complex surgeries, especially cranial surgeries, surgeons typically use hand drills to make intricate openings, adding hours to a procedure. The automated drill reduces the time for bone removal from two hours using a hand drill to 2.5 minutes.

“It was like doing archaeology. We had to slowly take away the bone to avoid sensitive structures,” said William Couldwell, a neurosurgeon at University of Utah in the US.