Surgery is a medical specialty that uses manual and/or instrumental techniques to physically reach into a subject's body in order to investigate or treat pathological conditions such as a disease or injury, to alter bodily functions (e.g. bariatric surgery such as gastric bypass), to improve appearance (cosmetic surgery), or to remove/replace unwanted tissues (body fat, glands, scars or skin tags) or foreign bodies. The subject receiving the surgery is typically a person (i.e. a patient), but can also be a non-human animal (i.e. veterinary surgery).
The act of performing surgery may be called a surgical procedure or operation, or simply "surgery". In this context, the verb "operate" means to perform surgery. The adjective surgical means pertaining to surgery; e.g. surgical instruments, surgical facility or surgical nurse. Most surgical procedures are performed by a pair of operators: a surgeon who is the main operator performing the surgery, and a surgical assistant who provides in-procedure manual assistance during surgery. Modern surgical operations typically require a surgical team that typically consists of the surgeon, the surgical assistant, an anaesthetist (often also complemented by an anaesthetic nurse), a scrub nurse (who handles sterile equipment), a circulating nurse and a surgical technologist, while procedures that mandate cardiopulmonary bypass will also have a perfusionist. All surgical procedures are considered invasive and often require a period of postoperative care (sometimes intensive care) for the patient to recover from the iatrogenic trauma inflicted by the procedure. The duration of surgery can span from several minutes to tens of hours depending on the specialty, the nature of the condition, the target body parts involved and the circumstance of each procedure, but most surgeries are designed to be one-off interventions that are typically not intended as an ongoing or repeated type of treatment.
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.
Neuroengineering is at the frontier between neuroscience and engineering: understanding how the brain works allows developing engineering applications and therapies of high impact, while the design of
A gunshot wound (GSW) is a penetrating injury caused by a projectile (e.g. a bullet) from a gun (typically firearm or air gun). Damages may include bleeding, bone fractures, organ damage, wound infection, loss of the ability to move part of the body and, in severe cases, death. Damage depends on the part of the body hit, the path the bullet follows through the body, and the type and speed of the bullet.
Penetrating trauma is an open wound injury that occurs when an object pierces the skin and enters a tissue of the body, creating a deep but relatively narrow entry wound. In contrast, a blunt or non-penetrating trauma may have some deep damage, but the overlying skin is not necessarily broken and the wound is still closed to the outside environment. The penetrating object may remain in the tissues, come back out the path it entered, or pass through the full thickness of the tissues and exit from another area.
Minimally invasive procedures (also known as minimally invasive surgeries) encompass surgical techniques that limit the size of incisions needed, thereby reducing wound healing time, associated pain, and risk of infection. Surgery by definition is invasive and many operations requiring incisions of some size are referred to as open surgery. Incisions made during open surgery can sometimes leave large wounds that may be painful and take a long time to heal.
The immune system is a network of biological processes that protects an organism from diseases. It detects and responds to a wide variety of pathogens, from viruses to parasitic worms, as well as cancer cells and objects such as wood splinters, distinguishing them from the organism's own healthy tissue. Many species have two major subsystems of the immune system. The innate immune system provides a preconfigured response to broad groups of situations and stimuli.
Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word pathology also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatment, the term is often used in a narrower fashion to refer to processes and tests that fall within the contemporary medical field of "general pathology", an area which includes a number of distinct but inter-related medical specialties that diagnose disease, mostly through analysis of tissue and human cell samples.
Active in robotic surgery, minimally invasive care and medical technology. Distalmotion democratizes robotic surgery with Dexter, offering advanced dexterity for complex surgeries and establishing a new standard of care globally.
Active in video analysis, sports performance and cutting-edge technology. Dartfish provides cutting-edge video analysis solutions to improve performance and reduce injuries for teams, athletes, healthcare practitioners, and educators.
Active in biomaterials, implant technology and soft tissue repair. Regenosca develops innovative biomaterial implants for soft tissue repair, offering off-the-shelf solutions that promote cell migration and reduce operation time.
In vitro skin models are validated methods for screening cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, but still have limitations. The bilayer poly(epsilon-caprolactone) scaffold/membrane model described here overcomes some of these deficits by integrating a solution ele ...
In recent years, soft robotics has surged in applications like wearables, drones, smart fabrics, and medical instruments. Due to their compliance, these devices excel in tasks demanding dexterity and adaptability, such as manipulation, locomotion, crash re ...
EPFL2024
, , , ,
In minimally invasive surgery, such as cardiac ablation, magnetically steered catheters made of variable-stiffness materials can enable higher dexterity and higher force application to human tissue. However, the long transition time between soft and rigid ...