Using robots as a part of surgical procedure is certainly something that is gaining widespread acceptance. After all, a robot can be very precise, the surgeon doesn’t even need to be in the same room (lowering risk of infection) and can operate in small spaces.  You can see a video of a surgeon practicing with such a robot on a piece of steak below.

Now, however, it appears doctors can take the idea of surgical robots much further than before. At the Israeli Institute of Technology they have built a prototype robot that can swim through a person’s bloodstream right to the point of where there is a problem. The ViRob can then administer whatever solution is required directly to that point.

This could mean no more pumping radiation throughout a cancer patient’s body, for example, and just targeting the cancer cells themselves directly. No more wasted medicine as any kind of medicine can be distributed right to the damaged cells.

While this might not be the submarine-like ship out of Fantastic Voyage (or Inner Space if you preferred the comedy) it certainly is a huge step forward in the use of robotics in the operating room.