MIRACLE, short for Minimally Invasive Robot-Assisted Computer-guided LaserosteotomE, aims to develop a robotic endoscope to perform contact-free bone surgery with laser light.
Laser osteotomy (surgical bone operation) offers several advantages over conventional mechanical bone surgery such as (1) precise and small cuts defined on pre-operative planning, (2) functional cut geometry (so-called smart cuts), (3) accelerated healing and (4) less trauma. Combining laser osteotomy with endoscopy (minimally invasive surgery) will further push the boundaries of feasible applications for the benefits of the patient. The minimally invasive osteotome is planned to be applied in the fields of orthopedics, cranio-maxillofacial surgery, neurosurgery, otolaryngology, traumatology, and spinal column surgery.
The MIRACLE project, under the leadership of Prof. Philippe Cattin and Prof. Hans-Florian Zeilhofer, was funded with 15.2 million Swiss francs by the Werner Siemens Foundation and performs research on the boundary between natural sciences and medicine. Four research groups, located at Switzerland Innovation Park Basel Area, are working on this flagship project.