Iranian researchers build surgeon robot for laparoscopy

Iranian researchers at Amir Kabir University designed and built a surgeon robot which is capable of performing surgical operations on the patients who need laparoscopy. “The robot has been built in the laboratory and will be presented to the market in the next two years,” Vahid Talebi, a member of Amir Kabir University’s Scientific Board, said on Tuesday. He said that in this method two holes are made in the patient’s lower chest and abdomen and then the surgical tools as well as a camera controlled by the surgeon will be sent into the patient’s body and to the organ which needs to undergo an operation. According to Talebi, the method can be used for laparoscopy surgeries within the abdomen to take parts of spleen, kidney, gall-bladder and abdominal tumors for later tests. Also, earlier this month, an Iranian researcher designed and built a robot which can rescue victims and those trapped in earthquake debris and similar situations. “The remote-controlled robot which is also a pathfinder can be used for relief and rescue operations,” Hadi Yousefipour, the inventor, told FNA. Noting that the robot can be used for three missions, including fighting, rescuing and path-finding, he said, “The pathfinder robot can fulfill missions in cumbersome situations or it can be used after natural disasters, including earthquakes, storms, etc.” A rescue robot is a robot that has been designed for the purpose of rescuing people. Common situations that employ rescue robots are mining accidents, urban disasters, hostage situations, and explosions. Rescue robots were used in the search for victims and survivors after the September 11 attacks in New York. The benefits of rescue robots to these operations include reduced personnel requirements, reduced fatigue, and access to otherwise unreachable areas. Iran has taken wide strides in science and technology, particularly in building medical and robotic devices, in recent years. Iranian inventors in July 2011 made a man-like robot named 'Sorena 2' which walks on two feet, discerns words and does other manly actions. Sorena 2 was born after another robot named 'Sorena 1' was developed in Iran in 2008.