New Snake Like Robots For Heart Surgery

New snake like robots are coming into the world of surgery...

These nimble multi-jointed snake like machines are perfect for reaching into hard to reach cavities of the human body. One of their most useful applications is in the area of heart surgery. Michael Argenziano of Columbia University Medical Center, has been involved with some of the first clinical trials on robotic heart surgery over a decade ago. Now snake robots have become a commonly used tool that gives surgeons a whole new perspective.

“It’s like the ability to have little hands inside the patients,” he explains, “as if the surgeon had been shrunken, and was working on the heart valve.”