Da Vinci System
The Da Vinci system is minimally invasive surgery that consists of four robotic arms, a control station, and a patient side-cart.
The robotic arms have seven degrees of freedom (the human wrist only has three) that allow for greater precision, and a smaller incision.
The surgeon is in control of all the arms throughout the entire surgery. The surgeon can see the patient from a high-definition screen, while sitting at the control station where the robot translates large movements into tiny ones, taking out when the surgeon's hand trembles.
The Da Vinci minimally invasive surgery system has been used for over 775,000 patients and has been installed in over 1,700 hospitals worldwide. In 2000, the da Vinci system was the first commercially available robotic surgery system cleared by the FDA for use. Recent studies have also shown that comparing surgical removal of prostate to radiation, robotic surgery has the lowest cancer death rate (3:4 ratio).
With this system, patients are discharged from the hospital faster, with less need for sedatives and minimal scarring from smaller incisions. Because of this, it is cheaper (in the long run), and safer for surgeons to use the Da Vinci system.
The Da Vinci is truly intuitive,” said Willie Melvin, M.D., Assistant Professor of Surgery at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. “Operating with the Da Vinci is really no different than operating with your hands.”