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Tiny Robotic Hand - Microsurgery Made Easy
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UCLA Lead Researcher Chang-Jin Kim developed a “microhand” measuring 1 mm when closed into a fist. Chang-Jin Kim says “It is the world’s smallest robotic hand, and could be used to perform microsurgery.” The robotic hand runs on gas pressure instead of electricity making it harmless for natural environments. Its four fingers are made from six silicon wafers, with polymer balloons which serve as a muscle at the wafers’ joints.
I must say that the microhand is a wonderful [micro-mechanical] achievement," says Albert Pisano, a mechanical engineer at the University of California, Berkeley, and a leader in such research. "The field of microsurgery and minimally invasive surgery is currently dominated by grippers and tools that are mounted at the end of long, rigid aluminum rods. Certainly these are adequate for many purposes, but now that functional microhands have been developed, one can visualize a new set of minimally invasive surgical tools that allow the surgeon additional dexterity in complicated procedures."
Pisano says that the technology could enable new kinds of minimally invasive surgical techniques, and that it stands out from other such efforts. "The work of Professor Kim is especially noteworthy since he has two pairs of opposing finger/thumb sets and... his design is able to have such an extreme range of motion.
(medgadget)
Via: medgadget
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