Spring Break
Da Vinci robot: Future of surgery
Issue date: 10/29/09
The future of surgery is . . . Wall-E? Well, sort of.
The Da Vinci surgical robot currently making its home in the Mock Operating Room in the Computer Science and Engineering Building here at Homewood is pretty loveable, as far as robots go. But the Da Vinci robot is also much more than just a pretty motherboard or some fancy software.
The Da Vinci machine consists of a surgical section - which features not only mounts for various "wristed" implements a surgeon might use during a procedure, but also a high-definition "3D" camera that transmits the image (usually from inside a patient) to a console at which the surgeon sits. It is also at this console where the surgeon directs the robot's movements via two small sets of loops that fit around the fingers of the operator.
It was developed by the medical technology company Intuitive, and is now currently on loan at Hopkins. About a thousand other robots like the Da Vinci are currently in use around the world. With the Da Vinci and its cousin machines, scientists and surgeons hope to take advantage of the many benefits of surgical assistant bots: anatomical modeling, surgical planning, medical imaging and a greater range of motion for surgical instruments.
Currently, robots similar to Da Vinci are used for laparoscopic surgeries that involve making two small incisions in the patient, one into which a camera is inserted and the other into which the actual surgical instruments are placed. Currently, similar surgical robots are used in a variety of laparoscopic surgeries, including nephrectomies to remove cancerous kidney tumors, heart valve repair and some gynecological procedures.
However, much of the research at the Engineering Research Center for Computer Integrated Surgical Systems and Technology (ERC CISST), which is based at Hopkins, is also aimed at microscopic surgeries, which will overcome the physical limitations imposed on current surgical systems to better treat an even wider range of illnesses with even greater effectiveness and much higher precision.
The Da Vinci surgical robot currently making its home in the Mock Operating Room in the Computer Science and Engineering Building here at Homewood is pretty loveable, as far as robots go. But the Da Vinci robot is also much more than just a pretty motherboard or some fancy software.
The Da Vinci machine consists of a surgical section - which features not only mounts for various "wristed" implements a surgeon might use during a procedure, but also a high-definition "3D" camera that transmits the image (usually from inside a patient) to a console at which the surgeon sits. It is also at this console where the surgeon directs the robot's movements via two small sets of loops that fit around the fingers of the operator.
It was developed by the medical technology company Intuitive, and is now currently on loan at Hopkins. About a thousand other robots like the Da Vinci are currently in use around the world. With the Da Vinci and its cousin machines, scientists and surgeons hope to take advantage of the many benefits of surgical assistant bots: anatomical modeling, surgical planning, medical imaging and a greater range of motion for surgical instruments.
Currently, robots similar to Da Vinci are used for laparoscopic surgeries that involve making two small incisions in the patient, one into which a camera is inserted and the other into which the actual surgical instruments are placed. Currently, similar surgical robots are used in a variety of laparoscopic surgeries, including nephrectomies to remove cancerous kidney tumors, heart valve repair and some gynecological procedures.
However, much of the research at the Engineering Research Center for Computer Integrated Surgical Systems and Technology (ERC CISST), which is based at Hopkins, is also aimed at microscopic surgeries, which will overcome the physical limitations imposed on current surgical systems to better treat an even wider range of illnesses with even greater effectiveness and much higher precision.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
LibertyBelle
posted 11/10/09 @ 1:23 PM EST
Currently living in Bucks County, PA I recently came across this video demonstration of the DaVinci Imaging Machine at http://www.cburology.com/central_bucks_county_urology_services. (Continued…)
Post a Comment