Page 31 - Robots Androids and Animatrons : 12 Incredible Projects You Can Build

The Papnet system is highly successful. It recognizes abnormal
cells in 97 percent of the cases. Since the reviewing technician is
only looking at 128 cells instead of 200,000 to 500,000 cells on a
pap smear, the fatigue factor is greatly reduced. In addition, the
time required to review a smear is only one-fifth to one-tenth what
it was before. The accuracy improves to a rate of 3 percent false
negatives as compared to 30 to 50 percent for manual searches.
The second medical category relates to telepresence surgery. Here
a surgeon is able to operate on a patient remotely using a specially
developed medical robot. The robot has unique force-feedback
sensors that relate to the surgeon the feel of the tissue underneath
the robot’s instruments. This technology makes it possible for spe-
cialists to extend their talent to remote provinces of the world.

The third category relates to virtual reality (VR) and enhanced
manipulation. With enhanced manipulation the surgeon operates
on a patient through a robot. The robot translates all the sur-
geon’s movements. For instance, let’s suppose the surgeon moves
his or her hand 1″; the computer would translate that to travel of
1 ″ or ″. The surgeon can now perform delicate and micro-
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scopic surgical procedures that were once impossible.
10 Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the control and manipulation of matter at the
atomic and molecular level. It is the ability to create electronic and
mechanical components using individual atoms. These tiny (nano)
components can be assembled to make machines and equipment
the size of bacteria. IBM has already created transistors, wires,
gears, and levers out of atoms.

How does one go about manipulating atoms? Two physicists,
Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer, invented the scanning tunnel-
ing microscope (STM). The tip of the STM is very sharp and its
positioning exact. In 1990 IBM researchers used an STM to move
35 xenon atoms on a nickel crystal to spell the company’s name,
“IBM.” The picture of “IBM” written in atoms made worldwide
news and was shown in many magazines and newspapers. This
marked the beginning of atomic manipulation. As IBM continues
to improve its nanotechnology, nanotechrobotics will find many
uses in manufacturing, exploration, and medicine.
Nanotech medical bots
Nanotechnology can also be used to create small and micro-
scopic robots. Imagine robots so small they can be injected into a
patient’s bloodstream. The robots travel to the heart and begin
Team LRN
Chapter one