Healthcare Technology Featured Article

February 25, 2014

Surgical Robots Take Center Stage with Live Surgical Cases


Robots performing delicate surgery has been a topic of conversation for some time now. While some absolutely love the thought of a robot's incredible precision and ability to operate in the tiniest of spaces, others think back to the time when the blender went on the fritz and realize that's not something that should be near, say, a human heart. But Baptist Health South Florida is getting ready to show just how amazing robotic surgery can be with a series of live surgical cases showcasing the power of robotic surgery firsthand.

There will be three such series, all set to take place on Thursday, February 27, and will feature a 9:00 AM robot-assisted prostatectomy, followed by a robot-assisted hysterectomy for endometrial cancer at 12:00 noon, and closing with a robot-assisted myomectomy at 4:00 PM, all times listed are Eastern Standard. The surgeries in question are set to be offered up as live webcasts, and during the surgeries, viewers are invited to submit questions to the surgical team while viewing. There's even a means to send questions via Twitter; just tweet @BaptistHealthSF, and the surgical team will respond to said questions in real-time. The webcasts will be viewable via Flash or on iOS, so both mobile devices and desktop systems will be able to get in on the action.

Robotic surgery is nothing new for the Baptist Health South Florida's Center for Robotic Surgery, which at last report has put the devices to work on over 10,000 various procedures since 2006. Baptist Health turns to robotic surgery as a means to carry out delicate surgery—like urologic and gynecologic procedures—and based on the sheer number of procedures it's carried out, it's not out of line to suggest that this could continue for some time.

There's no denying that the robotic surgery idea is a bit unnerving. Yet at the same time, seeing just what these device can do is staggering in its own way. There's already quite a bit of video of robotic surgeries taking place—one particularly evocative video involves the Da Vinci surgical robot engaged in such fine work that it can peel a grape without damaging the fruit itself, and the resulting peels are so thin as to be almost translucent—so this isn't so much a new thing as it is an augmentation to a body of work that's already on hand. But the addition of real-time question and answer segments certainly doesn't hurt matters, and those who were hoping to start dialogue about robotic surgery, or about healthcare in general, will likely get just what was desired from this series.

Bringing in robots with ultra-efficient surgical methods is a help to the healthcare system as well; when surgery that would normally be invasive is done less so, healing after surgery is faster, which means the patient can go home quicker. Add in remote monitoring tools and there's a potential that virtually every surgery in the not too distant future could be outpatient, with minimal need for anyone to stay.

There's a lot of potential benefit from robotic surgery, and those who want a first-hand look with a chance to ask some experts questions will get just the opportunity desired this Thursday. Beyond that, however, is a great possibility of improving several key portions of the healthcare system as we know it.




Edited by Cassandra Tucker
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