Bayhealth Medical Center of Delaware, is the latest hospital to offer minimally invasive surgery performed by a physician-guided robot. Surgical robots have increased in popularity in the past decade.
More than 1,000 of them, named for Renaissance inventor, Leonardo da Vinci, have been installed in hospitals across the country since receiving approval in 2000 from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
These robots, equipped with four slender arms, are frequently used in cardiac, gynecologic, colorectal and gastric bypass surgery; however, the da Vinci is best known for its role in prostate cancer surgeries, in which 90 percent of prostate cancer surgeries utilized the da Vinci last year.
Robot-assisted surgeries, however, have both pros and cons. Beneficially, Robot-assisted surgeries require smaller incisions and typically have less blood loss than traditional open or laparoscopic procedures.
Trained physicians use a joystick, maneuvering the machine’s slender arms within the body, leading to greater precision and fewer days in the hospital, as well as a quicker recovery for patients. On the downside, there is a possibility that time in surgery will be longer and the cost of robot-assisted surgeries is nearly $2,000 more than open or laparoscopic surgery.
Surgically trained physicians will acknowledge that there’s a learning curve to become proficient with the da Vinci. “We’re not learning to do new surgery, we’re learning to use a new tool,” said Dr. Scott Bovelsky, an obstetrician/gynecologist and chairman of the hospital’s robotics committee.
Recently, the da Vinci was mentioned in the news when Meadows School, a private school, provided students with the chance to view and research the mechanics behind Summerlin Hospital’s da Vinci Surgical System, a robot helping surgeons perform minimally invasive surgical procedures.
Meadows School students will be able to experience a day in the life of a surgeon at Summerlin Hospital, as they test their robotic skills on the da Vinci robot. After more than 300 minimally invasive procedures, it is an honor for the Meadows School robotic club to explore the operation and mechanics of the robot.
Robotics Wire