The silver robot is slightly larger than a lipstick tube and it’s got wheels to roam over a  liver or rumble through bumpy bowels inside the abdominal cavity of a pig — and someday maybe a person.

Equipped with a video camera no bigger than a penny, the robot could allow a surgeon to search for bleeding or disease, even though he or she may be thousands of miles away. Surgical tools could be added to perform a biopsy or repair a blood vessel.

Researchers at the University of Nebraska say astronauts could take the robot, and a close stationary robot cousin, on deep space missions where surgeons like Dr. “Bones” McCoy from Star Trek fame would be hard to come by. 

“These robots, with suggestions from doctors on Earth, would allow astronauts to perform a number of different emergency surgeries in space,” said Dr. Dmitry Oleynikov, director of minimally invasive surgery at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

Medics also could carry several robots in their first-aid bags and use them on the battlefield to diagnose wounds and perform surgery — all from the safety of a remote field hospital.

The tiny robots were designed by a team of graduate students and researchers led by Oleynikov and Shane Farritor, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

 Today, the research team  spearheaded by graduate student Mark Rentschler will demonstrate the use of the robots during a live video conference at the medical center. 

Using satellite communications and video monitors, they will be linked with an underwater laboratory called Aquarius, about 3.5 miles off the coast of Key Largo, Fla. NASA operates the laboratory, dubbed NEEMO, to give astronauts (who are now aquanauts) a feel for what it is like to live in an isolated environment. NEEMO stands for NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations.

Rentschler will guide an aquanaut through two surgical procedures: a bowel  inspection and a tissue dissection. Oleynikov is scheduled to perform a simulated appendectomy.  They will use a “body torso” similar to a mannequin to simulate an inflated abdominal cavity.  When using pigs, researchers pumped carbon dioxide into an abdominal cavity which gave a robot  ample room to maneuver.

“We started this three years ago pretty much from scratch,” Rentschler said. He said the team made 12 robots in all and ended up with two that were the best prototypes.

Rentschler and graduate student Jason Dumpert traveled  to Florida several weeks ago to train a NEEMO crew to use the robots. Others working on the project include: research assistant professor Steve Platt and graduate students Kyle Berg and Amy Lehman.

 Today, team members  will observe the Aquarius demonstration and collect data. They will study how long each procedure takes and whether the aquanauts performed tasks efficiently and accurately. The information may help them improve the robots or training methods.

Farritor said the mobile  robot has an edge over traditional laparoscopic surgery — which uses a camera at the end of a tube—  because it can move around and give a surgeon much better views from different angles. The use of a robot also requires fewer incisions and is less invasive.

“With traditional laparoscopic surgery you’re pretty much confined to  one area unless you make another hole,” Farritor said.

The cutting-edge technology  has its roots in the Mars Rover program. Before coming to UNL in 1998, Farritor was involved in Mars Rover research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He helped develop  a sensor that allows rovers to locate the sun. Farritor is still conducting Mars Rover research at UNL but has since branched out into the field of medical robotics.

“It’s a rover is what it is,” Farritor said. “It’s in line with those Mars Rovers.”

Farritor explained that the tiny robots operate in a very different environment, much the same way a rover moves around Mars. Furthermore, he said, both a robot and a rover provide “pictures” of their environments.

The lipstick-tube robot has two cylindrical wheels that allow it to roam. Packed inside are two electrical motors, electronic circuitry, a computer and sensor.  The camera will be on a small peg on the outside of the robot, which will be connected to a power source by wires. Eventually, the robots could be controlled through wireless communication.

NASA officials hope that the procedures simulated in Aquarius may one day be used to respond to emergencies on the International Space Station, the Moon or Mars.   today’s demonstration is the latest in a series of tests in Aquarius that will end April 20.

A Canadian scientist also has performed similar telerobotic surgery experiments during the current 18-day mission aboard Aquarius. Dr. Mehran Anvari, director of the Centre for Minimal Access Surgery at McMaster University in  Hamilton, Ontario, used a different robot developed by a U.S. based group. Anvari used a new portable prototype system to stitch a simulated patient aboard Aquarius.

Farritor said the U.S. Army is interested in the robotic research  because it needs to do surgery in remote areas.

 “Almost all battlefield deaths occur in the first 30 minutes  because of severe abdominal bleeding,” he added. “The idea is to give surgical assistance when soldiers fall.”

 The robotic research was funded by the Nebraska Research Initiative, which supports research within the University of Nebraska that encourages economic growth and development in the state. Farritor said the National Institutes of Health recently selected the project for high-priority funding.

 Meanwhile, Farritor, Oleynikov and Platt are starting a company called Nebraska Surgical Solutions to develop the robots for commercial use.

Farritor said they are seeking Federal Drug Administration approval and are in license negotiations with the university, which holds the patents. They are also hiring a chief executive officer and have received financial support from the Nebraska Engineering Research Fund, administered through the University of Nebraska Foundation.

Currently, each robot is built one at a time at a cost of about $1,500, not counting student labor, Farritor said.

“The commercial  devices will be much cheaper,” he added. “You will be able to use them once and throw them away.”

Reach Algis J. Laukaitis at 473-7243 or alaukaitis@journalstar.com.