Overcoming limits of human dexterity.

Observing the limits of human dexterity in microsurgical procedures led Michael Goldfarb, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, Vanderbilt University, to the development of a telemicrorobot. "A microscope enables us to see really small things, but we are still confined to seeing these things only. If we want to pick them up and move them around, we are limited by our human dexterity, which goes down to only a certain scale. With this technology, we can see, feel, and interact with things on a microscopic scale," he explains.

There are two types of microsurgery operating at the limits of their dexterity--ophthalmic surgery in retinal procedures and some surgical procedures in the middle and inner ear. Peripheral nerve procedures and some neurosurgeries are close to their limits as well. A fair number of surgical errors result from these operations, Goldfarb notes, since doctors' motor skills are not accurate enough to do these procedures reliably. Telerobotics can enhance surgical dexterity through the employment of macro-micro robots.

A surgeon, attached by wires to a macro or "master" robot, observes an image of the surgery site (which could be in the same room or millions of miles away) through stereomicroscopes. The surgeon grasps a scalpel and moves it around, creating electrical signals that are transmitted through the macrorobot to activate the micro or "slave" robot, which does the actual cutting of tissue.

Once cutting has begun, the microrobot...