Number To Know…0.03
Executive Summary
0.03mm is the width of the robotically controlled surgical needle used in a groundbreaking procedure to remove a blood clot in the eye.
Innovators in surgical robotics are striving to develop devices with ever decreasing dimensions to allow use in the tiniest spaces within the body. In January, Peter Stalmans at Belgium’s University Hospitals Leuven used a surgical robot with a needle of barely 0.03mm wide to slowly inject a thrombolytic drug in the retinal vein of a patient to dissolve a blood clot (causing retinal vein occlusion) – the first procedure of its kind. Until now, it would have been impossible to safely insert a needle into the vein by hand to inject medicine and remove the blood clot.
To find out more about this and other technological advances in surgical robotics, including robotic catheters for atrial fibrillation treatment and origami robots, click here to read Medtech Insight’s latest market intelligence feature.