PAGING DR. ROBOT: The esophagus-stretching device is connected by a cable to a battery-powered, wifi-capable controller.KARL PRICEParents from all over the world bring their babies and young toddlers to Boston Children’s Hospital for an operation that surgeon Russell Jennings wishes he didn’t have to perform. These children have been born with a disconnected esophagus, the upper section of which ends in a blind pouch a few centimeters from a lower portion that protrudes from the top of the stomach. The condition, called long-gap esophageal atresia, affects around one in 2,500 newborns, and is fatal if left untreated. But the procedure that Jennings and his colleagues currently perform to fix it, called the Foker process, takes its own toll.
To repair the digestive tract, Jennings makes an incision in the child’s back and stitches a few tiny sutures into the end of each of the two sections of esophagus. Then, he ties the sutures onto button-like wheels on the child’s back. The operation has to be conducted under anesthesia, and once it’s finished, depending on the particulars of the child’s condition, he or she may be kept sedated, on a ventilator, and fed intravenously for a few weeks to ensure the sutures stay in place. Every few days, Jennings or another doctor tightens the buttons a bit more, tugging at the sutures, until both sections of the esophagus grow long enough that they can reconnect to form a continuous tube.
Jennings estimates he’s performed ...
