The good people at Michigan State University have come up with an unusual application for robotics. They’ve devised a robotic arm that enables physicians to give remote breast exams:
Here’s how it will work: A physician or other health-care provider, located in a hospital or clinic, will slip his or her hand into a glove-like instrument. That will allow him or her to move the robotic arm that is with the patient in a remote location.
“That arm, which actually looks like a hand, is equipped with sensors,” said Carol Slomski, chairperson of MSU’s Department of Surgery and co-director of the project. “As the hand touches the patient, the sensation from this touch comes back into my hand. When the robotic fingers feel a lump or some other abnormality, I also feel it.”
While I can see the practical applications of this device, there are some serious social barriers to overcome. After all, who wants to get felt up by a robot? And don’t get me started on the remote prostate exams.
DarrenBarefoot.com 
oh for christs sake. anyone who’s that panicky about getting a breast exam needs to a) Do it themselves, b) Get Over It. Your doctor is unlikely to be getting off on looking for lumps. If he is? Get a new fucking doctor!
Robotic arm. Yegods. What a waste of research…
Hey, this isn’t a waste of research. You thought phone sex was the best you could do for a long-distance relationship? Oh my …
i have a feeling that this new device is the result of different research. so, it’s not so much a waste as an interesting development on the shoulders of something else. (like the internet and silly putty and a bunch of other things.)
and the same research could lead to other things; there are a lot of dangerous places and activities best left to robots with arms with fine control and feel. i’m sure they exist, but i can only think of punchlines to dirty jokes at the moment…