First magnetic teleendoscopy from a distance of 9,300 km
Researchers from ETH Zurich and the Chinese University of Hong Kong have succeeded for the first time in Zurich in carrying out a magnetic endoscopy using remote control on a live pig in Hong Kong. The technology could enable better surgical care in remote areas in the future – especially for procedures for which local expertise is not available.
The endoscope is controlled with the joystick of a Playstation controller.
There are over 9,300 kilometers between the operating room in Hong Kong and the room in Zurich from which Alexandre Mesot controls the endoscope at three in the morning. Mesot is a doctoral student in ETH Professor Bradley Nelson’s Multi-Scale Robotics Lab. He looks at a screen with live images of the operation and moves the joystick on a Playstation controller.
Ultra low latency
With a delay of only around 300 milliseconds, a four-millimeter-thin probe passes through the stomach of a live but anesthetized pig in the operating room in Hong Kong. Mesot uses a camera to examine the animal’s stomach wall and takes tissue samples with a tiny gripper arm. The procedure is the first remote-controlled magnetic endoscopy. The details were published in the journal Advanced Intelligent Systems.
Two things were crucial for this breakthrough to succeed
A magnetic navigation system with a magnetically controllable endoscope developed at ETH Zurich and a secure and fast internet connection to the operating room.
The endoscope is controlled with the joystick of a Playstation controller.
(Image: The Chinese University of Hong Kong)
Magnetic endoscopies are less stressful
The remote-controlled procedure was accompanied and monitored in the operating room by surgeons from the Faculty of Medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
They inserted the magnetic endoscope through the mouth into the pig’s stomach. Before Mesot could take over the navigation of the probe in Zurich, it was tested in the operating room by a team from the Multi-Scale Robotics Lab and by the Hong Kong surgeons.
The endoscope is controlled via a magnetic field generated by Navion, a surgical navigation system developed by ETH Professor Bradley Nelson and his team. “Thanks to a magnetic head, the endoscope can not only be bent in all directions, it is also smaller and easier to control than conventional devices,” explains Mesot.
Endoscope Mobility
The magnetic head makes the endoscope particularly mobile.
Due to the great mobility of the magnetic endoscope, ETH researcher Mesot was able to easily carry out a so-called retroflexion in the animal’s stomach.
After entering the stomach cavity, the endoscope is bent backwards 180 degrees to inspect the stomach entrance. This complex procedure shows that magnetic endoscopes can be navigated from a distance at least as flexibly as standard devices.
In addition, the smaller endoscope can also be inserted into people through the nose, rather than through the mouth, as is common in traditional endoscopies. This is less stressful because patients do not need to be fully sedated and are awake and able to provide feedback during the procedure.
The magnetic endoscope is also potentially suitable for use in children where conventional probes are too large.
Teleoperated endoscopy offers many possibilities
In the next step of the research there is hope to perform a teleendoscopy on the human stomach. There is a lot of potential in this technology, for example for minimally invasive interventions in the gastrointestinal tract, such as cancer screening examinations.
Teleoperated endoscopy can be used not only for surgical training but also for diagnostic and surgical care in remote areas, especially when there is a lack of local expertise.
Remotely, trained nurses could even be instructed to perform the procedures.
Here you could find the full German Article by DeviceMed.de:
