Enter the world of medical robots where surgeons can operate without even touching their patients and visionary mini-robots will creep, crawl and swim around your body, diagnosing disease and performing vital surgery. Since the pioneering use of the ‘Probot’ for prostate surgery in 1991 through to the ‘da Vinci Surgical System’ in today’s modern hospitals, surgeons have been using robots to improve the patient’s experience of a range of operations. Futuristic technologies displayed in the exhibition include a swimming camera pill designed to help doctors make diagnoses and the Sensium ‘Digital Plaster’ developed to support nursing staff and allow patients greater independence by monitoring them from their own homes.

The exhibition also asks whether science fiction reflects fact, or if scientists are inspired by the representation of medical robots in films, books and comics. It will feature some famous medical robots from the world of science fiction, from the 1930s ‘Pyschophonic Nurse’, to rare Japanese manga by Osamu Tezuka, and Britain’s own 2000AD.

The exhibition has been funded by the Frances and Augustus Newman Foundation, the Japan Foundation and the Japan Society