http://www.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/11/19/heart.robots/
Check it out. It’s a robot that helps a doctor perform open heart surgery.
For the past three years my students have met with some of the designers, and operators of this amazing machine. We have actually gotten to use one in a training environment. (Thanks Ethicon-Endo Surgery!) It is fun to operate without the pressures of a real patient. We got to stretch rubber bands around simulated tissues. The bands were similar to those used for braces 
It is a fantastic application of what we do in FIRST. Problem solving to help society. The procedures that this device will allow doctors to do are incredible.