Developed a method to treat stroke remotely

Immediate intervention is vital in patients suffering from stroke or aneurysm. A group of scientists has developed a telerobotic system to assist these patients with rapid and remote intervention. The system makes endovascular intervention possible thanks to a remotely controllable robotic arm.

Emergency response with a remote control system

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) scientists have developed a remotely controllable robotic arm-based system that can minimize brain damage at critical moments. The robotic arm will allow doctors to perform the movements they want, thanks to the magnets on the wrist.

In endovascular intervention, which is one of the intervention choices of doctors in the critical period after the onset of stroke, which is especially important to minimize any damage to the brain, a thin wire, through which drugs can be delivered, must be manually guided to the clot in order to physically clear the blockage or to unclog it.

The MIT team aims to enable this intervention with a system that allows doctors to guide a soft, thin magnetic wire through veins using a joystick and magnets that can be adjusted remotely through live imaging.

With successful tests MIT scientists envision that the developed robotic system could be installed in smaller hospitals and remotely guided by trained surgeons in larger medical centers.