What seemed like futuristic fantasy only a few years ago is reality at UI Hospitals and Clinics with its minimally invasive robotic surgery services. In August, UI Hospitals and Clinics will introduce a second robotic system: the da Vinci-S ® robot with high definition, which will enable surgeons to continue meeting the mission of education, research, and care.
Howard Winfield, MD, director of laparoscopic and robotic surgery at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, talks about the new surgical robot:
We should start by asking how robots are currently used in surgery.
We consider the robot as our slave and we're the master. At The University of Iowa, we have multiple surgical disciplines using the robot on a regular basis. We have general surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, gynecology, and also us, in urology, use it quite frequently.
How is the new da Vinci-S ® robotic system different from the current robotic system?
The new machine will have four arms instead of three arms. The new machine should allow us to be able to dock the machine more easily. It's certainly going to be much more surgeon friendly. The nice feature is that it will have high-definition visualization, so I think it's going to give us a lot of significant advantages.
Will this robot be able to do procedures the current robot cannot?
I think the major advantage is going to be for the cardiac surgeons, as well as the pediatric general surgeons, in that it will allow them to get around corners easier and be able to move from one part of the abdomen or chest to another area. Because it's easier to move and dock as well as improve visualization, I think it will give them some significant advantages.
What new technology does the da Vinci-S ® robot have?
Well, again, it has four arms instead of three arms. We're using high-definition visualization, the visualization with our old machine was excellent but this is going to bring us another level. And I think it's going to make it a lot easier for the assistant who is at the operating table to be able to visualize exactly what's going on with the procedure.
Is the old system obsolete now or will UI Hospitals and Clinics continue to use it?
No, it's certainly not obsolete. We will continue to use it. The machine we have is an excellent machine and because our surgical volume for robotic surgery is increasing, I'm certain that we'll be able to easily use two machines.
What procedures qualify for a robotic surgery?
I think any laparoscopic or keyhole-type surgery qualifys for using the robot. I think where the robot is especially useful is when you're doing reconstruction, where you're doing very fine suturing and reconstruction, that's where the real benefit of robot surgery comes in.
Do physicians spend time in training learning the newer da Vinci-S ® system?
All the current robot surgeons are very qualified to do robot surgery on the machine we have now. The new machine probably will take a couple of hours of in-service and a little bit of extra training. But it's very, very similar from the console compared to the existing machine, so I don't anticipate extensive training required for the new machine.
When will the second da Vinci robot system be put in into operation?
We're getting all of the equipment for the new machine, we're training our nurses, as well as the robot surgeons. So we're hoping that we're going to be ready to use the machine later this summer, hopefully in August.
We're really excited about this new da Vinci-S ® , and I think it's going to allow us to move our robot program forward and be at the leading edge of this technology. |
