Below is an excerpt from an article originally posted by the University of Nebraska
More than 400,000 Americans need colon resection procedures each year to treat lower gastrointestinal diseases such as diverticulitis, colon polyps, pre-cancerous and cancerous colon lesions and inflammatory bowel disease.
Right now, the most common approach to colorectal procedures is open surgery—which requires a large incision, a lengthy hospital stay and several weeks of recovery, as well as a high risk of infection and other complications.
All that could change with Virtual Incision, a medical device company cofounded by University of Nebraska–Lincoln engineering professor Shane Farritor. He is working to transform abdominal surgeries with a miniaturized, first-of-its-kind surgical robot, MIRA.