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CoxHealth in Springfield has purchased a machine with four robotic arms ending in pinchers and sharp tools. It's not a torture device ... it's a 1.6-million-dollar surgical robot designed for use in hysterectomies and urology procedures. KSMU's Megan Keathley has more on the newest edition to Cox's surgical team, the Da Vinci-S.
Leonardo daVinci created some of the greatest artwork of all time, envisioned flying machines in the 1500s, and was a pioneer in mechanical engineering. But even Da Vinci himself could never have imagined his name stamped on this: a seven-foot tall robot, consisting of four mechanical arms, built to stand over an operating table. The arms hold steel rods which end in tiny tools and camera lenses the size of pencil points. The robot is connected to a large viewing console, where a surgeon controls the machine with tiny finger movements, all while looking at the high-resolution, 3D camera feed displayed on a computer monitor. Sounds intimidating, but if you're in need of minimally invasive surgery, the Da Vinci-S system is just what doctors like Howard Fallus are prescribing.
Fallus is a urologist with the Ferrell-Duncan clinic at CoxHealth. He explains how procedures like hysterectomies and prostatectomies used to be performed with a single scope inside the patient, and bulkier instruments, which gave doctors a limited range of vision and movement, especially within small surgical cavities. Thanks to advancements in computer-assisted camera imaging and precision robotics, The Da Vinci-S allows doctors to make even smaller incisions (which heal faster), while giving them a range of motion and movement impossible for human hands to perform alone.
Chris Hyde is Clinical Sales Manager for Intuitive Surgical, the developer of the Da Vinci system. He says the robot's ability to interpret human movements is like a car with power steering ... what some people call "driving by wire."
Systems like the Da Vinci-S offer the most minimally-invasive surgery available, and such procedures are in high demand. Benefits include less blood-loss, less scarring, and faster recoverey time. The first patient to undergo surgery with the Da Vinci robot will come to Cox in September. Dr. Fallus says that just in the past 24 hours, two more patients have scheduled procedures with the new machine assisting their surgeon. But for anyone who may be hesitiant about a robot in the operating room, CoxHealth will continue to offer traditional endoscopic surgery.
