University of Nebraska surgical robots in 18-day aquanaut expedition

U.S. and Canadian government agencies are using tiny surgical robots developed by University of Nebraska researchers in an underwater mission now through April 20, training doctors to perform surgery in remote locations, including outer space.

The 18-day NEEMO 9 expedition, associated with NASA, is under way 63 feet below sea level at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Aquarius underwater laboratory 3.5 miles off Key Largo, Fla. Four aquanauts (the under-sea version of astronauts) are each spending two hours using the robots to perform tasks mimicking real surgical procedures.

The robots were co-designed by Shane Farritor, associate professor of mechanical engineering at University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Dr. Dmitry Oleynikov, director of minimally invasive surgery at University of Nebraska Medical Center.

"These robots, with suggestions from doctors on earth, will allow astronauts to perform emergency surgery in space," Oleynikov said.

That's important, because as NASA sends more astronauts to explore Mars and the moon, surgical needs could arise during expeditions. The underwater NEEMO mission models the isolated environment in which astronauts work. NEEMO stands for NASA's Extreme Environment Mission Operations. It is NASA's ninth NEEMO mission and the longest Aquarius mission ever conducted.

"We want to demonstrate that robots are useful in these situations," said Farritor, who trained the NEEMO 9 crew to use the robots. Farritor, research assistant professor Steve Platt and graduate students Mark Rentschler, Jason Dumpert, Kyle Berg and Amy Lehman are observing the mission via videoconference and collecting data. Farritor said UNL researchers would study how long each procedure took and whether scientists performed tasks efficiently. The information may help them improve the robots or training methods.

The lipstick tube-sized mini surgical robots enter the body through laparoscopic instruments, which require very small incisions, and allow faster recovery for the patient. The mini robots have been the subject of numerous news stories and gained a lot of attention since UNL and UNMC began working on them two years ago. The researchers continue to explore new designs and uses for the robots, which are unique.

"Using our mini-robots, an astronaut in outer space could perform a liver biopsy, or even an appendectomy," Oleynikov said.

One of the assigned tasks for the NEEMO aquanauts is to use the mini-robots to perform a laparoscopic appendectomy on a surgical dummy. The mission is also an experiment in telementoring. Through live videoconferencing, Oleynikov will give the crew instructions to perform the appendectomy using two of the mini-robots for assistance.

One of the robots has a camera that tilts and pans. The other robot is mobile, and can be directed to move within the abdominal cavity. Both give the surgeon better views of the abdomen than traditional laparoscopic cameras, which have very little mobility.

Platt said robots have potential for use in other remote locations, such as battlefields or rural areas. "The ability to bring surgical capabilities to areas that are not accessible holds great promise for this technology," he said.

Farritor said that some day, doctors could use robots to perform surgery off-location. "Getting expertise in foreign environments is very useful, and I think these robots have a lot of potential in space and on Earth," Farritor said.

The NEEMO 9 mission is a joint project of the Centre for Minimal Access Surgery at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, University of Nebraska Center for Advanced Surgical Technology, the U.S. Army Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center the National Space Biomedical Research Institute and NASA. The mission builds on the success of the NEEMO 7 mission in October 2004 and will continue to evaluate new medical diagnostic and therapeutic technologies to enhance the delivery of state-of-the-art medical care in remote and harsh environments, as well as develop procedures and techniques for lunar exploration using remotely operated vehicles, tracking systems and navigation devices. A prototype next-generation surgical robot will be evaluated with surgeons at McMaster attempting remote surgical procedures using the robot and a patient simulator in the Aquarius undersea laboratory.

CONTACTS: Shane Farritor, Assoc. Professor, Mechanical Engineering, (402) 472-5805; and
Kelly Bartling, Manager, News, UNL, (402) 472-2059