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Surgeons from the Scottish region and the United States have successfully completed what is believed to be a pioneering stroke surgery using automated systems.

Prof Iris Grunwald, working at a Scottish university, performed the remote thrombectomy - the extraction of vascular blockages after a stroke - on a medical specimen that had been donated to medical science.

The professor was positioned in a major hospital in Dundee, while the subject undergoing procedure with the machine was at another location at the university.

Hours later, a neurosurgeon from the US location used the equipment to carry out the initial intercontinental procedure from his American facility on a human body in Dundee over 4,000 miles away.

The team has called it a potential "transformative advancement" if it becomes approved for medical treatment.

The medics think this technology could revolutionize stroke care, as a slow access to professional intervention can have a major influence on the recovery prospects.

"It felt as if we were seeing the first glimpse of the coming era," said the lead researcher.

"While in the past this was regarded as science fiction, we proved that each phase of the surgery can currently be accomplished."

The University of Dundee is the international education hub of the global medical association, and is the exclusive site in the UK where doctors can treat medical specimens with actual blood flowing through the blood pathways to simulate procedures on a living person.

"This represented the pioneering moment that we could execute the whole mechanical thrombectomy procedure in a real human body to demonstrate that every phase of the surgery are achievable," explained Prof Grunwald.

A healthcare leader, the head of a health foundation, called the intercontinental surgery as "a remarkable innovation".

"Over extended periods, people living in countryside locations have been deprived of access to surgical intervention," she added.

"Robotics like this could correct the imbalance which occurs in medical intervention throughout Britain."

How does the technology work?

An brain attack occurs when an blood vessel is obstructed by a clot.

This cuts off vascular flow to the neural matter, and neurons lose function and expire.

The superior intervention is a clot removal, where a surgeon uses medical instruments to remove the clot.

But what happens when a individual is unable to reach a expert who can conduct the operation?

Prof Grunwald explained the trial proved a mechanical device could be attached to the equivalent surgical tools a doctor would typically employ, and a medic who is present with the individual could readily join the instruments.

The expert, in another location, could then operate and direct their personal instruments, and the mechanical device then carries out comparable motions in immediate sequence on the subject to carry out the clot removal.

The individual would be in a hospital operating room, while the doctor could conduct the procedure using the technological system from any place - even their personal residence.

Prof Grunwald and the American specialist could view immediate scans of the body in the experiments, and track developments in immediate feedback, with the Dundee expert explaining it took only 20 minutes of training.

Technology companies prominent manufacturers were involved in the project to guarantee the network connection of the mechanical device.

"To operate from the US to the Scottish nation with a 120 millisecond lag - a moment - is genuinely extraordinary," said Dr Hanel.

Advancements in brain care

Prof Grunwald, who has won an award for her research and is also the vice president of the international medical organization, explained there were two main problems with a conventional clot removal - a international lack of surgeons who can do it, and intervention relies upon your geographical position.

In the region, there are merely three sites patients can obtain the treatment - Dundee, Glasgow and Edinburgh. If you aren't located nearby, you must commute.

"The intervention is very time sensitive," stated the lead researcher.

"Each six-minute postponement, you have a one percent reduced probability of having a good outcome.

"This innovation would now provide a innovative method where you're independent of where you live - preserving the valuable minutes where your cerebral matter is degenerating."

Healthcare information indicated there were {9,625 ischaemic strokes|numerous cerebral events|