PALM COAST — Dr. Darren Peterson peered into a viewfinder and maneuvered tiny scissors and forceps deep inside a man’s pelvis.
With the help of a robotic system, he repaired a hernia in the patient’s groin. Most of the time, the Florida Hospital Flagler surgeon sat at a console on the other side of the operating room.
Almost like a video game, he controlled the robot’s camera and surgical tools with joysticks and footpedals. Instruments and a camera attached to three of the robot’s four arms had been placed inside the patient’s abdomen through small incisions.
A three-dimensional image of the patient’s insides beamed up through the viewfinder.
Want to publish your own articles on DistilINFO Publications?
Send us an email, we will get in touch with you.
The robotic tools, Peterson says, allow him to make more precise cuts and provide a better, three-dimensional view than standard surgical tools would.
Despite its high price tag, robotic surgery is becoming increasingly common in Volusia and Flagler counties. Hospitals tout the robotic da Vinci Surgical System, which can cost up to $2 million, as evidence they are on the cutting edge of technology and say it shortens recovery time for patients.
But research has also called into question whether robotic surgery is cost effective, and as the device becomes more commonplace, it’s facing more scrutiny on safety.
Approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2000, the da Vinci Surgical System — manufactured by Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Intuitive Surgical Inc. — is the only general robotic surgical system on the market.
The cost of da Vinci robot has kept some area hospitals away, such as the 112-bed Bert Fish Medical Center in New Smyrna Beach.
Date: April 21, 2013