i-Snake®: surgery evolved

Led by Professor Guang-Zhong Yang and Professor Lord Ara Darzi, a team of surgeons and engineers at the Hamlyn Centre, Imperial College London are developing a robotic snake-like device for surgery called i-Snake®. It will be self-propelled, able to move through the body to its target, where the surgeon can operate it by remote control. The project, which is funded by a Strategic Translation Award made by the Wellcome Trust's Technology Transfer division, aims to transform keyhole surgery.

The team hopes to complete the design and engineering in the next 18 months, and the next stage is to seek regulatory approval to test the device in humans. Ultimately, it could have multiple applications: gastrointestinal, gynaecological and, eventually, cardiothoracic surgery.

Meet members of the team and find out more about making i-Snake® in this short film.

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Running time: 3 min 24 s
Read the transcript [PDF 84KB]
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