🔗 Share this article

Medical professionals from Scotland and America have performed what is believed to be a world-first stroke procedure using a robot.

The medical expert, working at a medical institution, conducted the remote thrombectomy - the extraction of blood clots after a cerebral event - on a donated body that had been provided for research.

The professor was positioned in a medical facility in the Scottish city, while the body she was operating on with the machine was separately situated at the university.

Later that day, a medical specialist from the US location employed the technology to perform the initial intercontinental procedure from his American facility on a donated cadaver in Dundee over 6,400km away.

The medical group has labeled it a potential "transformative advancement" if it gains clearance for use on patients.

The surgeons think this innovation could transform cerebral healthcare, as a slow access to specialist treatment can have a major influence on the recovery prospects.

"The experience was we were witnessing the early preview of the future," commented the medical expert.

"While in the past this was regarded as theoretical concept, we demonstrated that all stages of the procedure can already be done."

The University of Dundee is the worldwide teaching facility of the international stroke organization, and is the sole location in the United Kingdom where medical professionals can operate on cadavers with biological fluid flowing through the blood pathways to replicate operations on a living person.

"This was the first time that we could execute the entire surgical process in a actual human specimen to demonstrate that every phase of the operation are possible," said Prof Grunwald.

A healthcare leader, the chief executive of a stroke charity, called the long-distance operation as "a remarkable innovation".

"For too long, people living in isolated regions have been denied availability to surgical intervention," she continued.

"This type of automation could correct the imbalance which persists in brain care throughout Britain."

What is the operational process?

An blockage stroke happens when an vascular pathway is clogged by a clot.

This cuts off circulation and oxygenation to the brain, and neural cells lose function and die.

The superior intervention is a thrombectomy, where a surgeon uses surgical tools to extract the blockage.

But what transpires when a individual is unable to reach a specialist who can perform the surgery?

Prof Grunwald explained the trial demonstrated a automated system could be connected to the equivalent surgical tools a specialist would typically employ, and a medical staff who is with the patient could simply attach the wires.

The surgeon, in a different place, could then operate and direct their individual tools, and the robot then executes precisely identical actions in real time on the patient to carry out the clot removal.

The subject would be in a hospital operating room, while the specialist could conduct the surgery with the advanced machine from any place - even their private dwelling.

Prof Grunwald and the American specialist could observe real-time imaging of the specimen in the trials, and monitor progress in real time, with the Dundee expert stating it took only 20 minutes of instruction.

Major corporations Nvidia and Ericsson were contributed to the research to guarantee the network connection of the robot.

"To operate from the United States to Scotland with a brief latency - a moment - is absolutely amazing," commented the medical expert.

Advancements in brain care

The medical expert, who has won an award for her work and is also the executive member of the international medical organization, stated there were key issues with a traditional procedure - a global shortage of doctors who can conduct it, and treatment depends on your physical place.

In the Scottish nation, there are merely three sites patients can obtain the treatment - Dundee, Glasgow and Edinburgh. If you reside elsewhere, you must journey.

"The procedure is very time sensitive," said the lead researcher.

"Every six minutes delay, you have a slightly decreased likelihood of having a positive result.

"This innovation would now provide a new way where you're not reliant upon where you dwell - preserving the precious time where your neural tissue is otherwise dying."

Public health data indicated there were {9,625 ischaemic strokes|numerous cerebral events|