2016 ARS Electronica (Interactive Art)
報告者：何宜庭
報告PPT： [PPT]
作品名稱：OpenSurgery (2016) ok
作品作者：Frank Kolkmann (NL)
作品來源：ARS Electronica Archive、OpenSurgery.net
作品說明：
With *OpenSurgery*, Frank Kolkman speculates on the potential for advanced do-it-yourself surgical tools to possibly support more accessible alternatives to the increasingly expensive health services worldwide.
Inspiration for the project came from the discovery that uninsured Americans are using YouTube to share videos in which they perform medical and dental hacks on themselves as an alternative to professional care. These videos speak about how the profit-driven medical industries are widening the gap between those who can afford healthcare and those who cannot. Forcing certain groups of people to look for treatment outside of the official systems.
Extrapolating on this phenomenon, *OpenSurgery* proposes a do-it-yourself robot assisted surgery system for use in domestic keyhole surgery. By combining 3D printing and laser cutting with hacked surgical pieces and components bought online, the robot trades medical compliance for accessibility and easy distribution. Although it still requires a surgeon to operate it, with help of the files, it could theoretically be replicated almost anywhere at a mere fraction of the cost of commercial surgical instruments, challenging many of the assumptions and legally formulated standards that exist within the heavily regulated medical sector.
Even though the current prototype is functional to an extent, it is not nearly stable enough to be used in surgery yet. In its current state however it proves there is potential for alternative communities to assemble aroundand explore profoundly different approaches to – medical technologies. Admittedly also raising a number of ethical, psychological, and legal concerns.
Instead of providing an immediate solution, *OpenSurgery* intends to facilitate discussion about alternative models of healthcare. Through provocation it investigates the socioeconomic values associated with medical practice and questions the preferability of the market driven healthcare narratives we have grown so accustomed to.
