Surgical robot will conduct experiments on International Space Station

Uncrewed cargo shipments to the International Space Station usually include critical supplies, science experiments and goodies such as hazelnut spread and ice cream for the astronauts aboard. But a recent resupply mission included a different kind of payload: a miniature surgical robot set to perform simulated surgeries.

The miniaturized in vivo robotic assistant (MIRA) was blasted into orbit on Jan. 30, its inventors announced recently, and arrived at the space station on Feb. 1. Housed in a microwave-size locker, the device is the brainchild of Shane Farritor, an engineering professor at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, and colleagues.

Virtual Incision, a start-up Farritor co-founded, produced a space-ready version of its robot in Nebraska before taking it to the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., for extensive testing by NASA engineers.

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The device, which weighs just two pounds, has two robotic arms that allow it to grasp and cut tissue. Equipped with a camera and remote technology, it was designed to allow surgeons to conduct procedures remotely in a bid to make surgery more accessible in hard-to-reach areas such as battlefields.

The planned experiments will be conducted by a Lincoln-based surgeon who will remotely instruct the device to perform a simulated dissection and manipulate small objects. During the experiments, the robot “will use its left arm to grasp, and its right arm to cut, much like a human surgeon in a hospital operating room,” according to the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. A Virtual Incision spokesperson said the surgical experiments will take place the second week of February.

The space-ready iteration of the robot, which is also being developed for earthbound use, can perform both preprogrammed tasks and long-distance remote surgeries, a Virtual Incision news release says. The exercise will test the impact of a zero-gravity environment on simulated surgical tasks.

Though the results of the simulated surgery won’t be made public until months after the robot returns to Earth, researchers say the experiment will push forward the potential of remote surgeries both in space and on the surface. The Association of American Medical Colleges projects a shortage of up to 30,200 surgical specialists by 2034 in the United States.

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