Italian scientists are four years away from creating micro-robots that can carry out complicated stomach surgery without the need for doctors to make incisions, a research group said Monday.
Experts at the Sant'Anna University in Pisa say the tiny robots would be introduced into the body via the patient's mouth along with optical equipment that allows surgeons to view the inside of the stomach on a television monitor.
Doctors would then control the set of robots with a console.
The robots form part of the Pisa university's Araknes project, the most important venture in Europe in the field of developing tiny surgical instruments for use in the hollow organs of the human body.
The dual aim of the project is to help reduce post-surgical trauma by limiting incisions and to improve the clinical results of minimally invasive procedures.
The team in Pisa has received eight million euros in funding from the European Union for the project and says it will also involve a number of other European universities and businesses as research continues.
