Video of the week: Miracle adds laser precision to bone surgery

News

This week’s video comes from Switzerland where researchers describe the development of a robotic endoscope to perform minimally invasive bone surgery with laser light.

Their work is part of Miracle (Minimally Invasive Robot-Assisted Computer-guided LaserosteotomE), a project at the University of Basel which initially combined high precision laserosteotomy with endoscopy for surgical applications ranging from cranio-maxillofacial to spinal column surgery.

How the Versius robot could bring keyhole surgery to the masses

The team at the University of Basel has now received additional funding worth around £10m from the Werner Siemens Foundation to carry out Miracle’s second phase, the overall aim being to transform surgery by adapting it to patient specific data using a variety of tools.

Planning operations in virtual reality and using 3D-printed organic implants in minimally invasive surgical procedures form part of Miracle.

In the first phase, the team headed by Professor Philippe Cattin, head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Basel, developed a virtual reality platform for planning surgeries, which is now in use. This system will be expanded so that the exact shapes of bone replacement implants can be determined directly in VR.

Register now to continue reading

Thanks for visiting The Engineer. You’ve now reached your monthly limit of news stories. Register for free to unlock unlimited access to all of our news coverage, as well as premium content including opinion, in-depth features and special reports.  

Benefits of registering

  • In-depth insights and coverage of key emerging trends

  • Unrestricted access to special reports throughout the year

  • Daily technology news delivered straight to your inbox

Register
Or continue by

Signing in with your registered email address