🔗 Share this article

Doctors from the Scottish region and the United States have successfully completed what is considered a pioneering stroke surgery utilizing automated systems.

The medical expert, from a research center, executed the remote thrombectomy - the removal of circulatory obstructions following a brain attack - on a donated body that had been provided for research.

The expert was positioned in a medical facility in the location, while the subject undergoing procedure while using the system was at another location at the research facility.

Hours later, Ricardo Hanel from Florida employed the technology to conduct the pioneering long-distance operation from his Florida location on a medical specimen in Dundee over 6,400km away.

The medical group has described it as a potential "revolutionary development" if it becomes approved for clinical application.

The medics believe this innovation could transform stroke treatment, as a delay in accessing specialist treatment can have a major influence on the healing potential.

"The experience was we were seeing the initial vision of the coming era," commented Prof Grunwald.

"Whereas before this was regarded as theoretical concept, we demonstrated that each phase of the surgery can now be performed."

The Scottish institution is the worldwide teaching facility of the World Federation for Interventional Stroke Treatment, and is the sole location in the UK where medical professionals can treat donated bodies with biological fluid pumped through the vessels to replicate operations on a live human.

"This was the first time that we could perform the whole mechanical thrombectomy procedure in a genuine medical subject to prove that every phase of the surgery are feasible," explained the primary researcher.

Juliet Bouverie, the chief executive of a health foundation, labeled the transatlantic procedure as "an extraordinary advancement".

"Over extended periods, residents of remote and rural areas have been denied availability to surgical intervention," she stated.

"Robotics like this could address the disparity which exists in brain care throughout Britain."

How does the system function?

An ischaemic stroke occurs when an artery is blocked by a blockage.

This cuts off vascular flow to the brain, and neurons cease working and expire.

The superior intervention is a thrombectomy, where a surgeon uses surgical tools to clear the obstruction.

But what occurs when a individual is unable to reach a expert who can do the procedure?

Prof Grunwald stated the trial showed a mechanical device could be attached to the equivalent surgical tools a surgeon would normally use, and a medical staff who is attending the case could simply attach the tools.

The expert, in a different place, could then manipulate and control their own wires, and the mechanical device then executes exactly the same movements in live timing on the patient to perform the clot removal.

The individual would be in a treatment center, while the specialist could conduct the operation via the advanced machine from anywhere - even their private dwelling.

The lead researcher and the American specialist could view immediate scans of the body in the studies, and observe results in live conditions, with the Dundee expert saying it took merely twenty minutes of preparation.

Tech giants leading tech firms were involved in the research to guarantee the connectivity of the robot.

"To conduct procedures from the America to the Scottish nation with a brief latency - a blink of an eye - is genuinely extraordinary," commented Dr Hanel.

The future of stroke treatment

The lead researcher, who has been honored for her research and is also the vice president of the global healthcare association, explained there were key issues with a standard thrombectomy - a international lack of doctors who can perform it, and care is determined by your geographical position.

In the region, there are merely three sites people can receive the procedure - three major cities. If you aren't located nearby, you must travel.

"The treatment is highly dependent on timing," said Prof Grunwald.

"For every six minutes of waiting, you have a 1% less chance of having a positive result.

"This system would now deliver a innovative method where you're not depending on where you reside - saving the precious time where your brain is otherwise dying."

Healthcare information showed there were {9,625 ischaemic strokes|numerous cerebral events|