14 DAY TRIAL // You surely love your body.
And you do not want to display post-surgery scars when you're at the beach.
This could be done as a team of urologists and surgeons at UT Southwestern Medical Center and engineers at UT Arlington Automation and Robotics Research Institute are on the way to developing a breakthrough system for surgery without scars by employing magnetically operated laparoscopic tools inserted into the abdominal cavity through the bellybutton or throat.
There are still challenges about how to design the novel system and determine how to move them once they're inside the abdomen. "A fixed hole has a limited working envelope that is conical in shape," said Dr. Jeffrey Cadeddu, associate professor of urology and radiology and director of the Clinical Center for Minimally Invasive Treatment of Urologic Cancer.
The novel method, named Magnetic Anchoring and Guidance System, was imagined after Dr. Cadeddu saw a television show presenting teens employing magnets to hold studs on their lips to avoid piercing their lips. "The system uses a stack of magnets outside the abdomen to attract other magnets attached to laparoscopic instruments inside the abdomen. Surgeons can then move the outside magnets to position an internal camera at the best spot for seeing or to move a retractor or other surgical instrument. Once optimally positioned, the instruments can be locked in place. That allows a much greater range of maneuverability and the surgical team can more easily reposition the camera or instrument," said Dr. Cadeddu.
The prototype was tested on animals after successfully removing a kidney. "The technology may solve the fundamental problem of guiding instruments through the abdomen for natural orifice surgery, which now inserts the instruments through the throat, colon or vagina," said Dr. Daniel Scott, assistant professor of surgery, director of the Southwestern Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery.
"The current state of the art for laparoscopic surgery requires four or five holes. The question behind this is, can we do the surgery through only one hole and can we hide the hole in a cosmetically advantageous or less painful location," Dr. Cadeddu said. "The ability to reduce the number of trocars (holes) necessary for laparoscopic surgery has the potential to revolutionize surgical practice," concluded the team.
Because of the expanded maneuverability, researchers will further develop improved new techniques. The team still has to fully test them on humans; surgeons have to check if less entry points will lead to less complications, crucial in passing from conventional surgery to laparoscopic surgery.