2020:
Sofie Surgical Robot Provides Haptic Feedback to Surgeons
One of the distinctive properties of Sofie is the ‘force feedback’, i.e. ‘tactile feedback’ in the joysticks with which the surgeon operates. This counter pressure enables a surgeon to feel exactly what force he applies when making a suture or pushing aside a bit of tissue. The finishing touch of this, the control of the force feedback, is being developed.
Left: schematic of disc herniation, in which the inner nucleus pulposus extrudes from the annulus fibrosus and compresses a spinal nerve. Right: hernia in the cervical spine.
Dear med school,
There are a lot of things I’ve sacrificed for you. I’ve given up sleep in favour of seven-thirty ward rounds and the excitement of having fifteen doctors ignore me every morning. I’ve said goodbye to normal relationships, finally acknowledging that not only do these need time,…
Abraham Verghese: A Doctor’s Touch from TED Talks.
Modern medicine is in danger of losing a powerful, old-fashioned tool: human touch. Physician and writer Abraham Verghese describes our strange new world where patients are merely data points, and calls for a return to the traditional one-on-one physical exam.
