Archive for category Medical Technology

At $1 million this is by no way a cheap piece of kit. However the Da Vinci Surgical System’s presence is fast growing with over 210 systems installed in hospitals in the USA, Japan and Europe. In this post we take a look at its uses, its future and its advantages over traditional surgical methods.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Da Vinci Surgical System take a look at the video below:

The Da Vinci Surgical System started its development at the US department of defense with research from Stanford, contributions from IBM and technology licensing from Intuitive Surgical. Its main use at the moment is in prostatectomies for prostate cancer. While only 6 systems are installed in the whole of the UK, the US has seen greater growth with some larger hospitals having up to 4 each.

The video below provides a summary of the uses and benefits of the system:

A full webcast of Coronary Revascularization is available at http://www.or-live.com/PinnacleHealth/2120/event_flash/rnh.cfm?

I would highly recommend you watch the webcast above, some amazing surgery.

The future? The most important one is the possibility of remote surgery, i.e. where the Da Vinci console and surgeon are based far from where the surgery is actually taking place. In 2001 a New York based surgeon carried out a gall-bladder removal on a patient using the Da Vinci system. Its clear that advances in robotic surgery will revolutionize the healthcare industry, the question is for how long can we sustain funding for such expensive methods of treatment?