It’s a small revolution, which could lead to great advances in the medical field. A team of engineers from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, has developed a marvel of technology: a small flexible robotic arm, designed to 3D print directly on the surface of organs inside the human body.
This tiny printer, which slides in like an endoscope, is just over a centimeter in diameter and can twist in all directions to steer. Once inside, she can reconstruct tissue with specific biomaterials, clean wounds and even make precise incisions, reports Futurism. An incredible technique that could eventually replace open surgery, reducing the risk of infection.
Applications multiples
The scientific media suggests some possible uses of this system. Among them, we find the reconstruction of lesions of the gastric wall, but also inside the colon. Even better, this little robotic arm could be used to eliminate certain types of cancer.
Armed with an electric scalpel, the machine could indeed be used to make incisions. Add to that a small pump built into the robot, and the latter would even be able to clean up excess blood and tissue. A Swiss army knife endoscope.
It will still be necessary to wait a little longer to see this tool become a must in medicine. So far, the team has tested the robot inside an artificial colon and 3D printed the surface of a kidney taken from a pig. If technically its application on humans seems entirely possible, other experiments have yet to confirm the safety of the process.