# I got to play with a surgery robot today!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-to-play-with-a-surgery-robot-today/86516>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [October 10, 2001, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-to-play-with-a-surgery-robot-today/86516 "2001-10-10T04:50:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-to-play-with-a-surgery-robot-today/86516/1 "2001-10-10T04:50:48Z")

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As part of a student group I’m in, I got to go to the university hospital and play with a surgery robot. See [this site for details](http://www.hospitalmanagement.net/contractors/it/computermotion/index.html).

The system I worked on included Zeus, Hermes, and Aesop. It was way cool. I got to encode my own voice card (it was only temporary, as they are tres expensive) so I could give verbal commands while manipulating the controls. I worked with a suture needle, got to use articulating scissors, and in general had fun. It took some getting used to, especially the lack of depth perception (though there are some 3-D systems). What amazed me was the size of what I was manipulating–everything (quite obviously) looked huge in my display, but the needle I was manipulating was maybe 1 cm long.

Some of you may have heard of the “telesurgery” recently performed in France. It was this same system.

Aren’t you all jealous?

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**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-to-play-with-a-surgery-robot-today/86516/2 "2001-10-10T05:07:40Z")

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I attended a lecture sponsored by the University of Texas Medical Branch not long ago about robotic surgery. It was quite fascinating. They had some cool video of a bowel resection procedure that used the machine, and I was floored. We didn’t get to play with actual machine, though.

I’m jealous. 😃

Robin