X-Message-Number: 64 From arpa!Xerox.COM!merkle.pa Sun Feb 19 15:06:30 PST 1989 Received: from Semillon.ms by ArpaGateway.ms ; 19 FEB 89 15:06:40 PST Date: Sun, 19 Feb 89 15:06:30 PST From: Subject: CRYONICS: "Tiny Surgical Robot Being Developed" in Japan To: Message-ID: <> Status: R The Saturday, February 18 issue of the San Jose Mercury News reports on page 26A on "Tiny Surgical Robot Being Developed". The text of the article is: TOKYO (AP) -- Japanese scientists have begun developing a tiny robot to move inside the human body to treat diseased tissue, a professor said Wednesday. The scientists eventually hope to produce a robot that can transmit its location and findings, and can cut or otherwise treat diseased parts, said Iwao Fujimasa of Tokyo University's Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology. "Researchers for many years have sent probes to study the oceans and outer space. We hope to be able to study the inner world," Fujimasa said. Fujimasa, an artificial-heart specialist, said the goal is a robot less than .04 inches [about 1,000 microns] in size that will be able to travel through veins and inside organs. The project will require that the smallest currently available parts, such as motors, gears and screws, be reduced to about a thousandth their present size, he said. Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=64