Robots steady breast cancer surgeon's hands in first human trial

Doctors have used a robot to perform extremely delicate surgical operations on breast cancer patients in the first human trial of the technology. Eight women had the robot-assisted procedure at Maastricht University Medical Center, in the Netherlands, to alleviate a common complication of breast cancer surgery. The robot helped a specialist surgeon divert thread-like lymphatic vessels, as narrow as 0.3mm, around scar tissue in the patients' armpits, and connect them to nearby blood vessels. The operation, which requires immense care and precision, is offered to some breast cancer patients to reduce swelling in the arms that builds up when the lymphatic system cannot drain properly. Because the vessels are so small, surgeons need exceptionally steady hands to perform the operation well.