SPRING WISRD MAGAZINE, VOL 6, ISSUE 2

ADeep Dive into Robot ics in Surgery

By Steven Cast illo-Troya

As the field of medicine is advancing and finding new ways to heal pat ients, robot-assisted surger ies might take the spot light as the most promising new innovat ion. Robot ics opens up the field of medicine to new possibilit ies. It leaves less room for human error and often yields bet ter results for pat ients. Humans, of course, have limitat ions, but robots can surpass those limitat ions and br ing a new level of precision and acuity to surgical procedures. The first reported use of robot-assisted surgery was in a brain surgery performed less than 40 years ago in 1985. The procedure was a stunning success because of the accuracy that human hands could never achieve. This first procedure became a gateway for the widespread use of robot ic limbs and tools in surgery. As the new technology gained tract ion, researchers began to test its groundbreaking capabilit ies. In the year 2000, the Da Vinci surgery system was approved by the FDA after mult iple tests on pigs, cadavers, and successful surgery on a human. It was a revolut ionary piece of technology with robot ic arms strategically placed next to the pat ient and the doctor at the console controlling the robot . Miniature nstruments are placed inside the pat ient through a very small incision and the doctor can see through a 3D

camera. The surgery system was used to remove a gallbladder from a 35-year-old female pat ient .

The Da Vinci Surgical System Robot-assisted surgery can be a preferable opt ion in delicate procedures that require more accuracy. Robot-assisted surgery can also be highly beneficial compared to tradit ional surgery opt ions. Surgical complicat ions are great ly decreased in robot-assisted surger ies when compared to standard surgery, and because of the greater precision and less invasive techniques, scars are less not iceable and recovery tends to be faster and less painful. There is st ill a minimal r isk of complicat ions after robot-assisted surgery, but it 's dwarfed by the r isk of complicat ions following tradit ional surger ies. St ill, the chances

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