A tecnologia, a inovação, o conhecimento, todos os dias trazem boas notícias ao sector da saúde. Pena é, que a tecnologia seja sempre muito cara. Mas se compensar....
Tudo isto a propósito, desta notícia: A robotic caterpillar has been designed which can crawl across the surface of the heart to deliver treatment.
As vantagens do novo "robot caterpillar" são várias:
- The tiny robot, just a few centimetres long, can move at up to 18 centimetres per minute, controlled by "push and pull" wires from outside the body.
- its use could allow procedures to be carried out without having to stop the heart, reducing the risk of illness linked to heart bypass procedures.
- being able to implant the device directly onto the heart rather than having to go past the lungs could benefit patients in other ways.
- The team also hope it will be possible to add a radio-frequency probe to the robot to treat faulty heart rhythms by killing damaged tissue.
- Adding a camera to the device, rather than relying on the magnetic tracker on the skin which is currently being used, would help surgeons see specifically where the robot was on the heart's surface.
Mas, "This could theoretically be a vehicle for delivering cell therapies to damaged areas of the heart, so could ultimately be a useful tool, but at the moment we still don't know if such therapies work.
