The i-Snake, a long tube housing special motors, sensors and imaging tools, has the potential to allow complex heart and bowel operations to be carried out without making an incision. The team at Imperial College has been given a grant to build and test the surgical robots. According to the research team, the i-Snake could be used to detect problems in the gut and bowel by acting as the surgeon's hands and eyes in hard to reach places inside the body. Britain health minister and surgeon Lord Ara Darzi is also in the Imperial College team, they will test the device in the laboratory first, before using it on patients. Adding further, he added, i-Snake could be in use within five years, resulting in cheaper operations and faster recovery times for patients. Darsi said, "The cost benefits that i-Snake will introduce include earlier, cheaper and less invasive treatment, faster recovery and procedure times and intangible benefits through an increase in patient care and quality of life," The Times of India reported.Director of technology transfer at the Wellcome Trust, Dr. Ted Bianco, said: "Gone are the days when the surgeon's knife ruled in the operating theatre. The future of surgery is in smart devices like i-Snake."
