Robotic Implants Could Help Remedy a Rare Birth Defect

(Credit: Shutterstock) Robots are finding new ways to get under our skin, and that’s a good thing. Lab-grown organs are carving their place in medicine, as scientists can today grow miniature brains, kidneys and more in the lab to conduct research or even treat patients. In fact, in 2011, doctors successfully transplanted the first lab-grown organ—a trachea— into a cancer patient who needed theirs removed. But growing custom organs from a patient’s stem cells is neither cheap nor simple, and it may not be the ideal solution in all cases. It sounds straight out of science-fiction, but robotic surgeons, toiling away while embedded in the body, could offer an alternative means to regenerate tissues rather than growing them from scratch. Recently, an international team of researchers brought the future of in vivo robotic surgeons closer to the present day. In a study published Wednesday in Science Robotics, scientists and engineers ...