The Stormram 4, as the robot is named, is made from 3D-printed plastic and is driven by air pressure. The advantage of plastic is that the robot can be used in an MRI scanner. Carrying out a biopsy (removing a piece of tissue) during a breast cancer scan in an MRI significantly increases accuracy. The robot won a prestigious award during the Surgical Robotic Challenge at the international Hamlyn Symposium in London: one of the world’s most important events in the field of robotic surgery.
The Stormram 4 is a stimulus for the entire diagnostic phase of breast cancer; the accurate needle control, effectively real-time MRI scanning and a single, thin-needle biopsy enable quicker and more accurate diagnoses to be made. Medical robotics is sure to become standard procedure in hospitals in the near future.