CAJ - Worksheet

Which bodies currently fund research into your topic?

I believe that many organizations fighting against certain illnesses fund research into robotic surgeries. Some examples I found are Cancer Research UK, British Association for Cancer Research, Intuitive Surgical and Health Research Funding.

Also, interesting fact, there is an Austrian Center for Medical Innovation and Technology which is located in Wiener Neustadt. They are researching in the field of robotic surgeries too and they are funded by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency, the COMET Competence Centers for Excellent Technologies and the Federal States of Upper and Lower Austria.

Who do you think should fund research into your topic and why?

I think every countries health department should fund research into this topic because it improves the quality of our lives after surgeries. The costs of after surgical care could be reduced and insurances would not have to pay endlessly for a patient’s recovery. With people recovering quicker from surgeries, companies and employers would not have to wait as long as now until employees would be fit to work again. Surgical robots and research in said field is expensive but I believe that with sufficient funding, there would be huge improvements and ultimately safer surgeries, quicker recovery and lesser costs per surgery.

Does the science in your topic benefit everybody? If so, who does it benefit the most?

Yes, there are many advantages for the patients such as lesser pain, smaller scars, a smaller risk of infections, quicker recovery,... But there are also advantages for the surgeons. Some examples for their benefits are that surgical robots allow them to see their place of surgery from up close, perform precise movements which are crucial for surgeries, balance out tremors which would otherwise mean the end of a surgeons carrier,... With patients recovering quicker, fewer postoperative complications and infections, hospitals can release patients earlier from hospital making room for new patients. Companies could put their employees sooner to work due to their quicker recovery. And so on and so forth.

Overall, I think that patients benefit the most as they have to endure the pain and battle infections with their weakened body. They have to stay in bed forever, taking medication, instead of going back to work or doing things they want to do.

If it does not benefit everybody equally, should society being paying for the research?

Well it does, but even if that were not the case, I still think that as long as more people benefit from it than not, society should fund it. After all even a little funding can make a huge difference.

Find a TED talk in some way related to your topic. Paste the link below.

https://www.ted.com/talks/catherine_mohr_surgery_s_past_present_and_robotic_future#t-368805

Did it teach you anything new? If so, which aspects had you not considered before?

In fact, it did. Before watching the TED talk, I was unaware of the long history of surgeries. I never even imagined that people thousands of years back did surgeries as drastic as brain surgeries. To be honest, I also never considered the problems arising with surgeries such as cancer or tumor removals. The idea with the markers is quite brilliant yet it seems so simple. I knew that they could inject it into veins in order to make blood donations or even vaccinations easier. But I was not aware of the fact that you can make a special marker which only connects to a certain kind of cell. I could imagine this would revolutionize the cancer treatment as it gives surgeons the chance to make sure that they removed all of the metastases leaving the body cancer or tumor free. Like Dr. Mohr mentions, this opens up so many possibilities. While lung cancer or prostate cancer belong to those types of cancers that have the highest mortality rate, this could change. Surgeons could simply mark the metastases and follow their roots to the starting point. With the highly developed surgical instruments, surgeons could remove all of the cancer without destroying too much precious tissue surrounding it. And why stop there? By injecting it into the brain, illnesses such as epilepsy could probably be fixed too.

Every area of research has societal factors which limit its progress. How are outside influences impacting research in the field of science you are looking at for your CAJ? Think of as many examples as you can.

Surgical robots are very expensive in their acquisition costs. This could make hospitals or organizations unwilling to invest into robots and their research.

There are always those who do not trust robots because they say they can not understand how robots work therefore they must be bad. And why would you agree in a surgery performed by someone or something you do not trust?

Operating surgical robots is very complicated and needs a lot of practice. Young but especially elder surgeons might be unwilling to invest that much time into it.

Imagine you are leading a team of researchers in your field. How would seek to overcome these societal limitations as much as possible?

I would try to find a way where I can show them that later on surgery robots actually reduce costs and that the advantages of such surgeries outweigh the disadvantages. Furthermore, I would show that these robots essentially just mimic human hand motions. Also people who have successfully undergone a robotic surgery could be asked to speak in favor of this type of surgery. The more, the better. And of course get famous people to agree with me.

Surgeons need to understand that although the training is very time consuming, robotic surgeries open up so many opportunities for surgeries and therefore the surgeons. Plus you could make the training fun, as it is already done by some universities.

Follow this link to the list of CAJ topics.You will also need to open the list of gmail addresses. Which other topics connect, even if only in a small way, to your own topic? If you cannot say whether someone’s topic connects to yours because you do not fully understand what their topic is, then you will need to have a look at their CAJ first. Give me as many topics as you can, but at least three, which connect to your own. When you are finished, click the “share” button and invite those students below to your document (make sure the box “Notify people via e-mail” is checked so that they know you have added them).

First Name	Surname	Their topic	How does it connect to yours?	Working link to their CAJ
Fabio	Nitsche	AI; bio-hacking	These enhancements of the human body have to be implanted somehow and how better to do that than by surgical robots? These robots allow surgeons to for instance connect nerves better to implants.	http://fabiotheitalianblob.blogspot.co.at
Natascha	Ramic	Neuroscience	Surgical robots make it easier to perform surgeries especially in areas where human eyes can hardly see anything and cutting movements would be too big and severe. The robot camera can enlarge the video it takes giving surgeons a better few at tiny things even nerves. And while human hand movements are rougher, the surgical robot can transmit them into minute movements.	http://natisenglishadventures.blogspot.co.at
Monika	Toma	Designer Babies	This CAJ talks about the creation of designer babies. But what if during the pregnancy complications arise? Such as the wrapping of the umbilical cord around the fetuses neck, a heart malfunction or even Spina Bifida. Now many complications mean either losing the baby or delivering it premature. With surgical robots, surgeons could perform procedures on the baby still inside the womb increasing it’s chances to survive.	http://monito91.blogspot.co.at/
Katharina	Pelich	Stem Cells	Stem cells can be placed by surgical robots on otherwise difficult to reach places such as fetuses which have Spina Bifida. (Actually it’s a combination of my topic, monika’s and your’s.)	http://kathyp92.blogspot.co.at/
Artur	Shefer	Transhumanism	Pretty much the same connection as with Fabio’s topic. Surgical robots can make more precise movements than human hands making it easier to for instance connect nerves to a prosthesis.	http://arturshefer.blogspot.co.at/
Bianca	Stadler	Robotics	Both CAJ’s focus on the improvements made on robots.	http://biancasopinion.blogspot.co.at/search/label/CAJ
Shirin	Mahrouzadeh	Paediatric Palliative Care	A child’s body and it’s organs are much smaller than those of grown ups. Therefore the surgeon’s movements have to be smaller too. This can once again be achieved by using surgical robots. Robotic surgery also lessens postoperative pain, reduces scars and patients usually recover quicker too. All those reasons are good ones for performing surgery with robots.	http://vivacioussaffron.blogspot.co.at/search/label/CAJ
Ines	Mitterhuemer	Prosthetics	Same connection as with Fabio’s and Artur’s CAJs.	http://ines-mitterhuemer-suk4.blogspot.co.at/search/label/CAJ
Sabrina	Krassnig	Doomsday peppers	Now that we depend on robots to perform surgeries, will they eventually be smart enough to do them on their own and finally rise against humanity?	http://sabrinakrassnig.blogspot.co.at/search/label/CAJ

CAJ - TED Talk

As you all know, we had to look for a TED talk concerning a topic. I found one by Dr. Catherine Mohr who talks about the history of surgery and more important about robotic surgery. Dr. Mohr is a Senior Director, Medical Research at Intuitive Surgical, which is the company that develops the da Vinci robots. She is responsible for the development of new robotic procedures and does her best to improve the risks of surgeries for patients.

In her TED talk, she talks about surgeries and robotic surgeries. She starts by talking about the history of surgery in general and later focuses on robotic surgeries and the future improvements. I really enjoyed the video as it is easy to understand and highly interesting. At least in my opinion. I hope you like it as much as I did. However, if you are not good with blood and/or videos of surgeries then you might want to skip this TED talk.

Here's the promised link to Dr. Mohr's talk: 

https://www.ted.com/talks/catherine_mohr_surgery_s_past_present_and_robotic_future#t-368805

Enjoy. :)

CAJ - Average Joe and surgical robots in 2039

It is an early morning in the year 2039 and Mr. Doe casually enters the hospital. The hospital, which was once swamped with waiting patients, stressed nurses and busy looking doctors, seems almost empty. Most patients are either in preparation for their surgeries, in the recovery room or on their way home again. The number of nurses as well as doctors has been reduced to a minimum. The main work in this hospital is done by robots. They observe patients, prepare them for surgery and even perform them. Mr. Doe is one of the ten doctors still working in this hospital. Nowadays, their job is more focused on the robots than on the patients themselves. Under the experienced surgeons‘ watchful eyes, 50 robots perform 50 surgeries making waiting patients a phenomenon of the past. All Mr. Doe and his colleagues have to do is to keep an eye on five screens each to make sure every surgery goes according to plan. In the early days of surgical robots, surgeons still had to operate the machines themselves but gradually the robots evolved. Very soon, they were able to perform simple surgeries on their own and all the doctors had to do was to take over in case of emergencies or problems. However, the robots adapted quickly and could handle more complex surgeries and even complications, reducing the surgeons to the role of mere observers. Even though this lead to the near extinction of the medical professions, the advantages outweigh the downsides. Patients do not have to wait endlessly for a surgery anymore, risks during and after surgeries have been reduced, the recovery time is only a small fraction of the time it used to be after surgeries performed by human doctors.

CAJ - da Vinci Training

When surgeons decide they want to operate the da Vinci robot, they have to undergo an intensive training. It takes quite a lot of time and practice to master the skills necessary. The training typically is comprised of three main parts: learning about the technology behind the robot, teaming up with an experienced da Vinci robot surgeon and observing him, and practicing on the robot themselves.

1. It is important for surgeons in training to have a general knowledge of the da Vinci robot and its capabilities. This is achieved by driving the system, watching live surgeries to learn about the actual use of the robot and the techniques used by the surgeons, as well as teaming up with experienced surgeons.
2. After the surgeons have gathered a first impression of the da Vinci robot, they start their proper training. They have to learn about the mechanics behind the robot, practice operating the machine and the special techniques used for certain surgeries. To get a good grasp for the latter, surgeons can either watch full-length procedure videos, shadow an experienced surgeon or attend a special training center.
3. Once the theoretical part of the training is over, the surgeons are ready for their first robot assisted surgery. This surgery is overseen by a supervisor who makes sure that all the techniques are done correctly. The supervisor also has to asses the surgeon and to decide whether he is fit for solo surgeries.
4. When the proctor has given his or her go, the surgeon may perform surgeries with the da Vinci robot. However, it is important for the surgeons to work on their skills.

After extensive training, surgeons are able to do minute movements and they can even build tiny paper airplanes. Further down, you'll find a video showing a Seattle doctor folding a paper airplane with a da Vinci robot in order to improve his skills. If you like it, feel free to look up some more videos. I can assure you, there are plenty of them and they are fascinating.

CAJ - Disadvantages of and Problems with Robotic Surgery

I have talked about the advantages of robotic surgery before but unfortunately every medal has two sides. Therefore I also want to mention the disadvantages and problems associated with surgical robots.

For the hospitals:
One of the main disadvantages when it comes to surgical robots are their astronomical costs. Buying a new daVinci robot for instance costs about 2 million $ which makes it impossible for many hospitals to buy. Robotic surgery takes more time than regular surgery. A heart surgery with a robot can take almost twice as long as a regular heart surgery but the actual time depends on the surgeons' practice with the equipment and their expertise. Because the procedure takes so long, more anesthesia and staff is needed, raising the costs again.
As surgical robots are quite large, they take up a lot of room. In an operating room with lots of instruments and stuff this could lead to problems should complications arise forcing surgeons to step in quickly.

For the surgeons:
Another drawback is the extensive time it takes for surgeons to master working with surgical robots. It takes endless hours of observing and practicing until a surgeon is ready to perform surgery on an actual person.
With further developments of surgical robots, it is likely that less staff is needed. This could lead to two possible consequences. Either it allows them to perform surgery on more patients or the number of staff needs to be reduced leading to the letting go of physicians or nurses.

For the patients:
According to several law firms, there have been several complications with the daVinci robot. Some consequences are burns due to electrical shocks, punctured vessels or organs, excessive bleeding, intestinal tearing, uterus lacerations (which is a rupture of the uterine) and even death. The company Intuitive, the producer of the daVinci robot, are currently looking into that matter and work on locating and correcting any flaws of their robots.

CAJ - Advantages of Robotic Surgery

When you are in need of a surgery, you obviously want the best surgeons for the job. You want to know their faces, know they know what they do and trust them and their abilities. But why should you agree on the use of surgical robots? If the surgeons can do their job, why should you want a robot to perform surgery on you even if he is operated by those surgeons. A similar question can be asked by hospitals. Why should they invest tons of money when all they get is a machine who has to be operated by surgeons? If I have the surgeons and they do a fine job, why the extra investment?
In this post I will tell you some advantages of surgical robots and why maybe choosing a robotic surgery over a regular one might not be such a bad idea.

For the patients:
Patients who undergo robotic surgery usually recover quicker than those of a regular surgery. This is due to the fact that a robotic surgery is less exhausting and traumatizing for the human body. While regular surgeries are usually done through one large incision, robotic surgery can be performed through several smaller ones. If you take the example of a heart surgery. In a regular heart surgery, the patients chest needs to be "cracked open" meaning that a roughly 30 cm long incision is made in the center of the the chest. This incision severs the muscles which hold the rib cages together.

Sounds pretty painful, right? In a heart surgery performed with surgical robots, all it takes are three or four incisions (all about one cm long) in between the ribs.

This allows the surgeons to access the heart without having to break through the chest. The smaller incisions mean less pain and bleeding for the patient and the risk of infections is also reduced. Overall, the incisions heal quicker because of their size meaning that the patient recovers faster and is sooner able to live his normal life again. Plus, a shorter hospital stay and quicker recovery also saves money.

For the surgeons:
Surgeries, especially complicated ones, are very time consuming and exhausting for surgeons. They have to be fully concentrated the whole time as even a tiny slip with the surgical instruments could have catastrophic consequences. A huge problem for surgeons are hand tremors which can occur during long surgeries. A tremor is an involuntary shaking movement which can be really bad if it happens during a surgery where surgeons need to make minute movements. Usually these tremors, especially if they occur regularly, mean the end of a surgeons active career as it would be unsafe for patients and the hospital would fear law suits. Surgical robots, however, can ignore these tremors as the movements are small and the robot only reacts to bigger ones. When the surgeon's hand has a tremor, the robotic arm stays still. With surgical robots, a tremor no longer equals the end of a surgeon's career.
Surgeons are, despite their reputation, only human. And like every human they sometimes need to sneeze or something itches. During regular surgeries, this would be a problem as the surgeons have their surgical instruments in their hands and those instruments need to stay in place. While operating a surgical robot, surgeons can simply let go of the machine and the robotic arms stay where they are.
Another major benefit is that the surgical robot gives physicians a better few and access to the site of surgery. The surgeons have a 3D image of the patient's inside in front of them and the robot mimics the movements of their hands making robotic surgery easier and more natural for surgeons than laparoscopic surgery.

For the hospitals:
For a regular surgery, even a simple one, you need two or three surgeons, an anesthesiologist and several nurses. That's a lot of staff. Robotic surgery requires fewer people to be in the operating room. This lowers the costs for each surgery and allows them to take care of more patients.

As stated above, patients recover quicker. This allows hospitals to discharge them sooner, reducing costs too.


You say, there are plenty of benefits coming from robotic surgery and for my part, they had me at "lesser pain".

Expository text - How does instant photography work?

When I was a kid, my parents used to have a polaroid camera. They took pictures and shortly afterwards the image magically appeared. For those of you who, very much like me, have always wondered how this was even possible, here is the explanation.

Instant film or film for polaroid cameras is very similar to regular film. The main difference between the two of them is the developing process. While a regular film has to be developed externally, in a dark room, the instant film already has all the needed chemicals in its layers. Therefore, the picture develops as soon as it's been taken.

The film itself comprises of several different layers, as you can see in the image.

When a photograph is taken, the silver atoms on the film react with the light photons and create an image. In order to get a real picture, it needs to be developed. For this, rollers inside the instant camera spread the reagent layer, which is made of opacifiers (light-blockers), alkali (acid neutralizers), white pigment and other elements.

Underneath the reagent layer, there are three different light sensitive layers (blue, green and red). Under each of them lies a dye developer in its complementary color (yellow, magenta and cyan respectively). When a certain color of light reaches its sensitive layer, the opacifiers block the dye developer right underneath it. The other two developers can move up to the image layer.

This means that if blue light hits the blue sensitive layer, the yellow dye developer gets blocked. Therefore, only magenta and cyan reach the image layer, creating the color blue.

If you have ever seen an instant photograph develop, you know that it is usually greyish at first and only slowly becomes visible. This is due to the opacifiers. The reagent chemicals not only work their way down through the dye developers but also up through the image, timing and acid layer. The picture will stay greyish until the opacifiers and the alkali reach the acid layer where they react. This reaction makes the opacifiers become invisible and the picture visible. The timing layer slows the reagent chemicals down, leaving the picture underneath enough time to develop.

And voila, that is how instant films work. You see, it, unfortunately, has nothing to do with magic after all.