Robotic surgeon in town!!

A robotic surgeon sounds a bit like science fiction, but a company named Intuitive Surgical Inc. has taken the fiction out of the equation. The new surgeon is none other than the da Vinci Surgical System, it's a $2.5 million dollar robotic system that is used to perform many different types of surgeries, ranging from prostatectomies to heart surgeries. This product has been on the market since 2000 but currently has only about 300 units set up in hospitals in the U.S.

Some of the benefits of the da Vinci system is that it is minimally invasive, meaning that instead of having to cut someone open for a heart surgery or other type of surgery it only needs to make small incisions in the skin and then it's "arms" are directed to the area of surgery where they do the work. The robot has 4 "arms", each are about the width of a pencil; one of the arms is equipped with camera and the other three hold surgical instruments needed for the surgery.

The da Vinci doesn't take the human dimension out of the equation, in fact a human is controlling the machine from the same room while the surgery is taking place. Because of the minimally invasive procedure, patients have a much quicker recovery time than with traditional hack and slash surgery. It minimizes scar tissue and also helps to minimize infections related to surgical openings. One downside of the da Vinci is that it takes approximately 30% longer to perform surgery with the robot.

"During the procedure, surgeons sat at a console about 10 feet from the operating table where they viewed three-dimensional images generated by a tiny camera inside the patient’s body. They used remote controls to guide surgical instruments placed inside the patient through several small incisions. The robotic technology communicates the surgeon’s natural hand movements—without the slight shakiness of the human hand—allowing for greater accuracy and precision.

The technique offers increased visibility and better range of motion than is available with laparascopy, which is commonly used in heart surgeries. “Robotic surgery has tremendous benefits,” says Pat Pappas, M.D., the console surgeon. “It gives surgeons the precision and visibility we need, with less pain and a shorter recovery time for our patients.” http://www.advocatehealth.com/cmc/info/library/ham/win02/chmc1.html

In about another 10 years I'm guessing these types of machines are going to be very common in hospitals all around the world. They've got a product that is going to be hard to duplicate and back in 2000 Intuitive Surgical Inc. acquired their main competitor which gives them a monopoly like position in the world of robotic medicine.

Photo on the left is the "arms" that the robot uses. Photo on the right is the actual robot.