Canadians are participating in NASA's underwater robotic surgery mission, which could lead to faster medical treatment for people in remote areas and in space.

The project is taking place 19 metres underwater off the Florida Keys, in a laboratory the size of a school bus.

The mission is aimed in part at simulating the isolation of space, since construction hasn't yet been completed at the International Space Station.

Dr. Mehran Anvari, a surgeon at a hospital in Hamilton, Ont., is guiding robots through mock surgeries thousands of kilometres away.
Dr. Mehran Anvari, a surgeon at a hospital in Hamilton, Ont., is guiding robots through mock surgeries thousands of kilometres away.

It's also testing a prototype for telerobotic surgery, which involves sophisticated robots that mimic a surgeon's natural hand movements from thousands of kilometres away.

Dr. Dave Williams, an astronaut from the Canadian Space Agency, is one of the commanders in the underwater experiment.

Dr. Mehran Anvari, a surgeon at a hospital in Hamilton, Ont., is guiding Williams and other members of the crew through mock surgeries on dummies.

As Anvari manipulates small claws, he watches the hands of a robot aboard the underwater lab replicate his moves.

He said the experiment is especially difficult because, when a patient is in "space," there is a delay between when Anvari moves the remote control and the robot's responding action.

"We know from today that I can suture at around one-second time delay," said Anvari. "Whether we can go up to two seconds, which is the time difference from here to the moon and back, is the question."

Williams said the robot could be a lifesaver – given that it takes three days to get to the moon and up to three years to visit Mars.

"Having a capability like this enables us to provide direct surgical care within the habitat and reduces the reliance on the need to bring a crew member back to Earth."

The experiment also hopes to show whether such telerobotic technology and expertise can be used to provide "virtual hospitals" offering medical care to isolated communities on Earth as well, Williams said.

At the space station stimulator, astronauts are also going on underwater spacewalks. Their mission continues until April 20.