Cancer is a disease that has plagued the human race for centuries. The world’s oldest documented case of cancer hails from ancient Egypt (1500 B.C.), while the first attempt to treat it surgically dates back to approximately 1600 B.C. Today’s surgical treatments have very little resemblance to the techniques used several centuries ago as our knowledge of the human body, of chronic disease and our technology are much more advanced.
One of the most amazing advancements is cancer surgery has come in the form of a robotic assisted surgery. Robotic assisted surgery was developed to overcome the limitations from minimally invasive surgery. Minimally invasive surgery, known as laparoscopic or keyhole surgery, is a modern surgical technique that is performed by making several small incisions (less than ½ inch) in the abdominal and pelvic regions. By inserting a small camera and tiny surgical instruments into these incisions, the surgeon performs the surgery while watching detailed images on a monitor . Laparoscopic surgery is an effective surgical technique and is mainly used for operations within the abdominal and pelvic regions as well as on the thoracic and chest cavities. This procedure is typically used to treat cancers of the abdominal and pelvic regions including prostate, colon, kidney and ovarian cancers as well as other cancers including throat and esophageal cancers.
Although traditional laparoscopic surgery is a very safe and successful surgical procedure, robotic assisted surgery was developed to improve this technique further. The most known robotic surgical system, and the only one available in Canada, is called the da Vinci Surgical system. The da Vinci Surgical system, owned and designed by Intuitive Surgical, consists of a surgeon’s console (remote control) and a patient side cart (the robot). The surgeon’s console consists of two hand controllers, two foot pedals, and a two-eye viewing screen. The side cart consists of 4 robotic arms, 3 for surgical tools, and 1 for a two lens endoscopic camera.
The surgical procedure using the da Vinci Surgical system is similar to a typical laparoscopic surgery except for one major difference. Unlike a typical laparoscopic surgery where the surgeon operates while standing over the patient, the da Vinci surgical system allows the surgeon to operate by controlling the robotic arms remotely from the console. While seated at the console, normally located in the same room as the patient, the surgeon uses the console’s controllers to manipulate the patients-side carts three or four robotic arms, while looking through the two-eye viewing screen.
The ergonomic design of the da Vinci allows the surgeon to perform the surgery in a much more comfortable manner compared to a typical laparoscopic surgery. The surgeon sits at the console and operates the robotic arms remotely, which come into contact with the patient, while directly viewing the procedure with his/her head rested on the two-eye viewing screen. Instead of standing over the patient using surgical tools while viewing the procedure on a monitor, the da Vinci’s design is seen to reduce fatigue and physical strain on the surgeon.
The design of the da Vinci also has a number of other advantages. This includes the jointed wrist design of the robotic arms, the da Vinci’s ability to translate, filter and scale the surgeon’s movements from the console, and the high definition stereoscopic image provided by the two-eye viewing screen and the two lens endoscopic camera. The jointed wrist design of the robotic arms provides increased dexterity not possible with the human hand. The da Vinci’s ability to filter and scale the surgeon’s hand movements from the controllers enhances the precision to perform complex, delicate procedures and allows the surgeon to operate in a much more graceful manner. The two-eye viewing screen and the two lens endoscopic camera provides the surgeon with a stereoscopic high definition view of the procedure and it provides a much better view of the surgery when compared to the image of the monitor used for a typical laparoscopic surgery.
Although these advantages come from the ergonomic design and the technology of the da Vinci surgical system, the question remains: do they translate into more successful and efficient cancer surgical procedures?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment