A-maize-ing! Sony’s microsurgery robot works on a grain of corn
Sony has unveiled a powerful new tool capable of restoring corn on the cob, kernel by kernel, with pinpoint accuracy – but the company also hopes to find medical applications for this groundbreaking technology.
This month, Sony R&D premiered the “microsurgery” assist bot, which allows surgeons to work at one-tenth the scale only possible with human hands.
The demonstration video showed tiny surgical scissors cutting open a small core and sewing it back together with precision.
The device is operated by a human surgeon who guides the robot’s movements with controllers such as joysticks to achieve “smooth and jerk-free movements.”
While Sony reported that it had already quietly conducted successful tests of the robot with surgeons at Aichi Medical University, the company conducted a more daring, public test at the IEEE event: performing surgery on an ear of corn (above, right). to see)
The surgeon’s trained hand movements are transferred via the controller to small robotic arms with ultra-small, low-friction joints (above), Sony said, ‘achieving smooth and jerk-free movements’
“This is a demonstration video showing the suturing of a corn kernel with small suturing needles called 12-0, using a prototype of (the) microsurgery assistant robot,” Sony said in a statement. posted on YouTube.
“The system is designed for use in a variety of facilities and surgical scenarios, with the console and robot made as compact as possible,” the company says. said.
The prototype saw its first public test at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Yokohama.
A surgeon peered through his 1.3-type 4K OLED microdisplay Googles, giving them a live feed from the device’s 4K 3D stereo camera, which sits above the operating table.
While the Japanese tech and media company reported that it had quietly conducted successful tests of the robot with surgeons at Aichi Medical University, the company conducted its more daring, public “corn surgery” for the IEEE event in May this year.
“This is a demonstration video showing the suturing of a corn kernel with small suturing needles called 12-0, using a prototype microsurgery assist robot,” Sony said in a statement.
A surgeon looks through his 1.3-type 4K OLED microdisplay Googles (above) and gives them a live feed from the device’s 4K 3D stereo camera, located above the operating table
The device’s 4K 3D stereo camera (above) shines its light onto the operating table
Sony said it hopes the compact nature of its robot and its control console will allow the device to be used by “those performing treatment and those requiring treatment” in a range of difficult environments, from cramped hospitals to disaster sites.
In February 2024, surgeons and other doctors at Aichi Medical University – without prior advanced training in microsurgical procedures – used Sony’s prototype in an animal surgery experiment.
The Aichi doctors had managed to create an anastomosis, or a newly connected opening between two animal blood vessels, with a small diameter of about 0.6 millimeters.
“In the future,” the company said, “Sony plans to collaborate with university medical departments and medical institutions to further develop and verify the effectiveness of robotic surgical assistance technology.”