🔗 Share this article

Surgeons from Scotland and America have accomplished what is believed to be a historic stroke procedure employing robotic technology.

The lead surgeon, working at a Scottish university, performed the remote thrombectomy - the extraction of vascular blockages post a brain attack - on a medical specimen that had been provided for research.

The surgeon was working from a major hospital in the location, while the body she was operating on with the machine was separately situated at the research facility.

Hours later, a neurosurgeon from the US location employed the system to conduct the first transatlantic surgery from his Jacksonville base on a donated cadaver in Scotland over significant distance away.

The team has described it as a potential "game changer" if it receives authorization for use on patients.

The doctors consider this system could transform stroke care, as a slow access to specialist treatment can have a major influence on the healing potential.

"It seemed like we were seeing the early preview of the next generation," said the medical expert.

"While in the past this was thought to be theoretical concept, we demonstrated that each phase of the procedure can now be performed."

The University of Dundee is the worldwide teaching facility of the World Federation for Interventional Stroke Treatment, and is the exclusive site in the United Kingdom where surgeons can work with donated bodies with actual blood circulated in the blood pathways to mimic treatment on a actual patient.

"This was the first time that we could perform the complete clot removal operation in a actual human specimen to demonstrate that every phase of the procedure are feasible," said Prof Grunwald.

A charity executive, the chief executive of a stroke charity, described the intercontinental surgery as "a remarkable innovation".

"Over extended periods, individuals from remote and rural areas have been limited in obtaining to thrombectomy," she added.

"This type of automation could correct the imbalance which persists in stroke treatment throughout Britain."

How does the technology work?

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

This interrupts circulation and oxygenation to the cerebral tissue, and brain cells lose function and deteriorate.

The optimal therapy is a clot removal, where a expert uses catheters and wires to remove the clot.

But what transpires when a patient cannot access a expert who can conduct the operation?

The medical expert stated the trial proved a mechanical device could be linked with the identical medical instruments a surgeon would typically employ, and a medical staff who is present with the individual could readily join the wires.

The expert, in a different place, could then operate and direct their personal instruments, and the robot then performs comparable motions in live timing on the subject to carry out the clot removal.

The individual would be in a treatment center, while the doctor could carry out the operation using the automated equipment from anywhere - even their own home.

The lead researcher and Ricardo Hanel could see immediate scans of the specimen in the experiments, and track developments in immediate feedback, with the Dundee expert stating it took only 20 minutes of preparation.

Major corporations prominent manufacturers were participated in the project to guarantee the communication link of the mechanical device.

"To conduct procedures from the United States to Scotland with a 120 millisecond lag - a blink of an eye - is absolutely amazing," commented Dr Hanel.

Advancements in brain care

Prof Grunwald, who has won an award for her contributions and is also the senior official of the global healthcare association, stated there were two main problems with a conventional clot removal - a global shortage of doctors who can do it, and care is determined by your location.

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

"The intervention is extremely time-critical," explained Prof Grunwald.

"Each six-minute postponement, you have a slightly decreased likelihood of having a successful recovery.

"This technology would now provide a innovative method 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|