Surgery

Archeologists have discovered the oldest evidence of a surgical procedure in humans. A Stone Age hunter-gatherer, who lived more than 30,000 years ago, had a carefully amputated leg, making it the earliest known surgery by tens of thousands of years.

A cornea implant made out of collagen gathered from pig skin has restored the vision of volunteers in a landmark study. Pending further testing, the novel implant is hoped to improve the vision of millions waiting for difficult transplant surgeries.

DARPA has selected Raytheon BBN to lead a team to develop an augmented reality device that can act as a virtual assistant for combat medics, guiding them through 50 different medical procedures using artificial intelligence.

It goes without saying that surgeons require a very delicate, precise touch. A new set of surgical training gloves were designed with that fact in mind, as they monitor their wearer's hand movements, and provide feedback on their technique.

An article is reporting on the first 19 humans treated with a new non-invasive method designed to break up kidney stones using sound waves. The method successfully fragmented most kidney stones, promising a non-surgical way to treat patients.

While robotic laparoscopic surgical systems do make certain procedures safer and less invasive, those systems are still operated by human surgeons. Now, however, a surgical robot has performed a delicate operation entirely on its own.

Adhesives that hold underwater are elusive, but could be useful for marine repairs or tissue healing. Researchers have now developed a new type of adhesive hydrogel that combines the underwater stickiness of mussels with the strength of spider silk.

It’s hard to get medical adhesives to stick when blood is making everything wet. Now, MIT researchers have developed a new surgical glue that can halt bleeding within 30 seconds, inspired by the super-strong underwater adhesive used by barnacles.

During surgery or traumatic injury, quickly stopping bleeding saves lives. Now, scientists have recruited an unlikely ally to that cause – snake venom, which forms the basis of a new “super glue” that halts bleeding in seconds after light activation.

Everyone responds to general anesthetics differently, which can make administering the correct dose tricky. A new device is designed to help, by continuously monitoring anesthetic levels in patients' bloodstreams during surgical procedures.

Panasonic has developed a new Medical Imaging Projection System that not only tracks changes in the shape and positions of organs in near real-time, but projects the images directly onto the patient as a guide for surgeons during complex operations.

Although many surgical procedures can now be performed laparoscopically (through a small incision in the skin), it's still difficult to seal up internal injuries in this manner. MIT is developing a way of doing so, though, that's inspired by origami.