Coming Soon to an OR Near You
Meet Penelope, the $100,000 Robotic Scrub Nurse
Pending FDA approval, Penelope, a portable robot that can stand in for a live scrub nurse in some surgeries, may make its market debut this year. The robot can hand instruments to the surgeon during basic general surgeries such as simple excisions, hernias and some breast cases, eliminating the need for a human and freeing a nurse for patient care, says developer Michael Treat, MD, the director of laparoendoscopic surgery at Columbia Univer-sity's surgery department.