Easy Exercises

Picture this!

Nobody likes surgery, but it is undoubtedly a necessary part of saving people�s lives. Because of this, doctors and researchers are constantly coming up with new ways of keeping people healthy. Take a look at the pictures and read the story about one revolutionary new technique that could be coming to an operating room near you. When you�re finished, discuss the questions that follow.

Photograph courtesy of DPA, Photograph courtesy of Bangkok Post and Photograph courtesy of AP

An X-ray shows a pair of surgical scissors embedded in the abdomen of a patient.	This surgical robot named the da Vinci Surgical System is worth 100 million baht.
A surgical team in France gathers around a patient undergoing a gall bladder operation.	Surgeon Jacques Marescaux is in New York performing the operation on the patient in France.

The experience of going under the knife will soon become less stressful. With advances in modern technology and telecommunication, robots are helping to save people�s lives. Surgeons thousands of kilometres away from a patient can now perform operations using high-speed signals to send commands to surgical robots. These robots then perform the operation. With technology advancing so rapidly, it seems that robots like the ones portrayed in the movie, I, Robot and other sci-fi films may be at our doorsteps in the not-too-distant future.

Discussion

1. What would be your reaction if a doctor made a mistake during your surgery?
2. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of surgical robots operating on a patient?
3. Is the idea of using high-speed signals to send commands over long distances to a surgical robot a good idea? Why or why not?

Vocabulary

revolutionary (adj): involving a great or complete change
embed (v): to fix something firmly into a substance or solid object

Idioms

go under the knife: having a medical operation
at your doorstep: in this use, very close to happening or becoming a reality