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Robotic surgical systems now available in smaller hospitals

Written by: David Castillo on April 6th, 2011

Robotic surgical systems now available in smaller hospitals | read this item

Robotic surgery used to be confined to big hospitals. Well, not anymore. Now, even smaller treatment centers are being retrofitted with robotic surgical equipment in order to help treat patients who are suffering from disorders such as apnea.

One such hospital is Summit Medical Center in Hermitage. A Da Vinci Surgical System was very recently setup in the center, similar to what is happening in many operating rooms in other places such as Franklin, Nashville and Murfreesboro. The system costs anywhere from $1 to $2.3 million and is able to simulate the precise movements of a surgeon’s human hands.

A surgeon is able to guide the system using a master control console and has binocular vision of the entire surgical procedure. Small devices hold onto the surgical instruments thus enabling even finer incisions, less loss of patient’s blood and faster recovery times with minimal scarring. Monroe Carell Jr. Childen’s Hospital pediatric urology specialist Dr. John C. Thomas explains that “we don’t want [parents] to think the surgeons are not doing the surgery, because they are.”

Source: Tennessean.com