Reality of Robotic Surgery: Why Your Surgeon Is Still in Charge

Fans of science fiction are no strangers to the idea of robots playing the part of surgeons. In reality, medical robots serve as high-tech tools that enhance the surgeon’s abilities. Unlike in sci-fi, your surgeon is still very much in control of everything that happens on the operating table.

Robot-assisted procedures are considered minimally invasive surgeries. That means they need only a few small incisions, like those used in laparoscopic surgery. The robot’s slender arms (equipped with cameras and delicate instruments) are inserted through those incisions, where they are controlled by the surgeon.

The efficiency and greater precision offered by the robotic assistance can have significant benefits for you, including:

• Faster recovery
• Smaller scars
• Reduced blood loss
• Shorter hospital stays
• Lower risk of infection

How We Got Here

Robotic assistance has been used for more than 30 years, thought it has become increasingly popular during the past decade. Interestingly, the concept has been around considerably longer.

The idea bubbled to the surface in the 1960s, when the U.S. military was looking for more effective ways to treat soldiers who were wounded on the battlefield. As you would expect, battlefields are often the hardest places to provide top-level care for the wounded, who have to be transported from the front lines to the nearest hospital and surgeons.

Would it be possible, military leaders wondered, to bring the surgeons to the battlefield by way of a remote-controlled robotic assistant?

That dynamic is playing out daily in hospitals across the country, though patients aren’t wounded soldiers and the surgeons are sitting just a few feet from the operating table.

Robot in the Operating Room

A robotic surgery suite is a highly specialized operating room built around the robot – a multi-armed tower that perches over the patient. The machine acts as a mother hub for the procedure, with various monitoring tools and instruments plugged into it. As the procedure starts, the robot’s arms are inserted into the patient.

Sitting off to the side is the surgeon’s console. While seated, the surgeon’s head is inside a large console that could be mistaken for a souped-up virtual reality video game. It is from this station that the surgeon uses a pair of joysticks to control every movement made by the robot. In fact, if the surgeon’s head isn’t inside directly in front of the viewing window, the robot cannot function. This guarantees that a human is always running the machine.

The console offers one of the system’s best advantages for the doctor, who can see 3D imagery of the surgical site. The images are provided by the robot’s cameras, which also allow up to 10x magnification whenever the surgeon wants a more detailed look at the procedure.

The robotic hub also allows for rapid consultations with surgeons in other locations. For example, if the surgeon encounters something unexpected, they can quickly summon a colleague, via remote connection. That surgeon can’t control the procedure but can offer a second opinion.

Wave of the Present and Future

With robotic-assisted procedures having significant successes at improving patient results, you can expect to see the increased use of robots as more procedures are approved. Already they have proven their worth for colorectal surgeons, gynecologists, urologists, orthopedists, gastrointestinal surgeons and cardiothoracic surgeons.

In the not-too-distant future, robots may become a standard feature of operating rooms around the world.

This content is not AI generated.