A robot that uses powerful magnets to perform less invasive, more efficient surgery completed its first international medical procedure, a gallbladder removal surgery, in a public hospital in Chile this week, according to the company developing the technology used by the robot.
Levita Magnetics, the startup company that manufactured the robot, based in California, said that the (Mars) surgical system at Luis Tesne Hospital in the Chilean capital, Santiago, allows surgeons to “attach small magnets to internal organs, such as the liver, and use robotic arms equipped with strong magnets on the patient’s abdomen to displace the organs.”
Alberto Rodriguez Navarro, physician and founder of Levita Magnetics, told Reuters that the system also “gives the surgeon control over the camera, which allows for better vision and is much more stable since vision is everything during surgery.”
The system has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration in September and performed the first commercial surgery at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio in October.