Scientists in the United States have designed a device which is able to crawl across the surface of the heart and perform precision heart operations.
The tiny robotic caterpillar is a mere two centimetres long when contracted and can move across the surface of the heart at up to 18 centimetres per minute.
The robotic device "walks" by attaching a suction foot to the surface and then extending its body, attaching a second suction foot and pulling the back foot forward.
Movements are controlled outside the body by using a joystick and surgeons can move the caterpillar across the surface of the heart in order to deliver treatment.
The device, called HeartLander, is designed to attach to the surface of the heart and to move around to positions where treatment is needed.
The team hope that the crawling robot will be much less traumatic for both surgeons and patients as precision heart operations could be performed under local anaesthetic without invasive surgery.
The scientists at Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, have already tested the device on the heart of a living pig where a shot of dye intended to mimic a drug injection was given and pacemaker leads were attached.
The caterpillar device is inserted below the ribcage by keyhole surgery and is attached to the heart via a vacuum line to the suckers.
The robot is manoeuvred on to the heart via a small incision under the patient's ribcage and once attached by its suckers it is controlled by three rigid wires which are pushed and pulled by motors outside the body.