The MIRA surgical robot will begin testing aboard the International Space Station in 2024. Its developer, Virtual Incision Corporation, has signed a contract with NASA. The robot can work under the guidance of a surgeon from Earth and has a modest size – it weighs less than 1 kg.
As part of NASA’s Artemis lunar program, a group of astronauts will stay on the Moon and in its orbit for long periods of time. This ambitious goal is fraught with potential problems. For example, some of the team members may require emergency medical treatment.
According to Virtual Incision Corporation, in the absence of a human surgeon in orbit, MIRA will be able to be remotely monitored by a specialist from Earth and even perform operations autonomously. MIRA is short for Miniaturized In-Vivo Robotic Assistance, which can roughly be translated as “miniature robotic assistance inside a living body.”
Among other surgical solutions, some of which take up virtually an entire room, MIRA stands out for its tiny size and weight of less than 1 kg.
The first test of MIRA will take place in 2024 aboard the ISS. The device will perform precise surgical actions on inanimate objects, such as cutting rubber bands and carrying rings through wire. These tests will help set up MIRA to operate in low-gravity environments.
In the future, the development will probably be able to save lives on Earth as well. If such a small robot can cope with operations in distant space, medical institutions will be able to implement similar technology for remote areas of our planet, which are in dire need of modern medical care.