Robotic+Assisted+Surgery

=__//**Robot Assisted Surgery.**//__=


 * Description:** Surgical procedures have been seen time and time again throughout the course of human history. Back in the early 1600's, if someone needed to get an arrow out the chest, a "certified" man of medicine would cut the skin around the wound, pry out the arrowhead, then stitch the poor guy back up. Unfortunately, since medicine was not as advanced back in those days, a wound like that would get infected and the person would die within two to three weeks. In Roman times, wounds were treated by using maggots placed on the area and they will act as a "clean-up" crew, getting rid of damaged flesh and bacteria. After that, the wound would be stitched shut and a salve would be placed on it to help the healing process.

In 1985 the first robot (PUMA560) was used to place a needle inside a brian during a biopsy using CT Guidance system. Following that procedure developed at the Imperial College of London, the Probot, was used to perform prostatic surgery( surgery done on the prostate). Following that there was the ROBODOC which was used in 1992 and it removed fittings from a femur during a hip replacement. Many other advances have occured since that time.

In May 2006, the first artificial intelligent doctor conducted surgery on a 47 year old man to fix his irregular heart beat, it fixed a minimally invasive mitral valve. The machine contains a database of 10,000 similar operations that it can perform. The doctor who worked on this was Dr. W. Randolph Chitwood Jr. In June of 2008, Dr. Chitwood recently performed his 400th robotic-assisted heart surgery.

During the 20th century, surgery has come a long way from its crude and simple days. Now we have surgery for all types of issues, from Health-related to Cosmetic-related. Surgeons can now operate on mostly any part of the human body, from the brain to the feet. Of course, we have all seen at one time or another how a usual surgery goes. All those hands, all that blood, the instruments that were sometimes left behind IN patients, the medical malpractices, etc.

This day in age, one would think we have come far enough technological-wise where robots are built for the sole purpose of performing risky and important surgeries where pin-point accuracy and a pair of steady hands would be required.



__//**The Da Vinci Surgical System.**//__



The Da Vinci Surgical System, developed by Intuitive Surgical Inc., is designed and built with the intent that robots will assist surgeons during procedures. It consists of the surgeon's console on the left, and a patient side cart outfitted with four interactive robotic arms, all capable of pin-point accuracy and minimal intrusive entry during surgeries.

__//**The Surgeon's Console:**//__ While using the Da Vinci Surgical System, the surgeon is at the head of the action. He would be seated comfortably at the console while viewing a true-to-life 3D image of his surgical field. The surgeon will use the master controls just below the display, which are positioned correctly so that his wrists are in their natural angles, reducing the risk of Carpal Tunnel. While moving his hands, the machine effortlessly translates the movements of the hands, fingers, and wrists into precise real-time movements of the surgical instruments while inside the patient.

__//**The Patient Side Cart:**//__ This side cart provides either three or four robotic arms—two or three instrument arms and one endoscope arm—that execute the surgeon's commands. The laparoscopic arms pivot at the 1-2 cm operating ports, eliminating the use of the patient's body wall for leverage and minimizing tissue damage. Supporting surgical team members assist in installing the proper instruments, prepare the 1-2 cm port in the patient and supervise the laparoscopic arms and tools being utilized.

With the help of this machine, surgeries have far less blood, fewer complications, fewer scarring, and shorter recovery time. With Prostate Cancer for example, during a conventional procedure, the surgeon would have to make a big incision himself, lots of blood, big scars, and long recovery times. But now, thanks to Da Vinci, the three to four robotic arms will pin-point key areas where the magic needs to happen, and use lasers to get the job done.

As the process of robotic assisted surgery grows, it has recently (2007) reached other nations around the globe it was even recently used in the Czech Republic to perform heart surgery.

In January of 2009, the first all robotic assisted kidney transplant was performed at Saint Barnabas Medical Center, in New Jersy by Dr. Stuart Geffner.

Applications:
Currently the various forms of robotic surgery are used in :

General Surgery Cardiothorasic Surgery (Lung resection, tumor resection) Cardiology and Electrophysiology Gastrointestinal Surgery Gynecology Gynecologic Oncology Neurosurgery Orthopedics Pediatrics Radiosurgery Urology

Related Terms:
Telemedicine NeuroArm CyberKnife Da Vinci Surgical System Remote Magnetic Navigation Zeus Surgical System Robot-Assisted heart surgery ROBODOC PUMA 560

Here is a demonstration of how the Da Vinci Surgical System works. media type="youtube" key="fOq78wzyIXQ&hl=en&fs=1" height="344" width="425"

__//**References:**//__

[|Intuitive Surgical] [|Youtube - Da Vinci Surgical Syste] [|400th robotic surgery] [|Heart Surgery In the Czech Republic]