LONDON

A team of researchers that includes Lord Darzi of Denham, the Health Minister, has been awarded a multimillion-pound grant to develop a new surgical robot

The flexible device, known as the i-Snake, is designed to extend the reach and scope of keyhole surgical procedures. It could allow coronary bypass operations to be performed without the need for open-heart surgery, the researchers said. It would be inserted through a blood vessel or the throat.

The world-renowned team, from Imperial College London, has been awarded more than £2.1 million from the Wellcome Trust to develop the i-Snake over the next four years.

Before his appointment to Gordon Brown’s “Government of all the talents”, Lord Darzi was one of Britain’s leading surgeons in the field of keyhole surgery. He still works as a surgeon one day a week.

Ted Bianco, director of technology transfer at the Wellcome Trust, said: “Gone are the days when the surgeon’s knife ruled in the operating theatre. The future of surgery is in smart devices like i-Snake.”

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