Scientists are working on developing miniature robots capable of performing surgery in space, according to a report by New Scientist.
The robo-surgeons would be able to perform procedures like an emergency appendectomy or perforate a gastric ulcer.
NASA has been working on this risky surgical experiment for a while now, but they believe someday soon the practice in space will become a routine matter, according to the report.
The robot will have its first zero-gravity test within the next couple of months to prove its ability to manipulate objects, and its dexterity, according to the report.
"Everything that we take for granted, even something as simple as putting a Band Aid down on a table, is difficult in space," said Dmitry Oleynikov at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in a statement. "That difficulty increases logarithmically when you're trying to do complex procedures such as an operation."
The robot has two arms fitted with necessary tools to hold, cauterize, and suture tissue. Its head meanwhile is a small video camera.
The camera feed is then sent to a control station, where a human surgeon is able to operate it by using joysticks.
"While this work is in an early phase, the minimal invasiveness of this approach could enable its use in remote locations such as on a moon or Mars colony," researchers wrote in a paper.
Controlling it from Earth would mean delays in communication however.
Astronauts on the International Space Station who need medical attention can be sent back to Earth in an escape capsule within a matter of hours. Longer missions to other planets, like Mars, would make getting back to Earth during an emergency a little harder.
Make sure to check back as NASA continues to work on the prototype.
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