Modern Medicine : Robotic Surgery Essay

In this chapter, Rugierri discusses robotic-assisted surgeries. Although these robots might be considered break through technology, their cost to use them is extravagant and less than ideal. Regardless of the operation, “robotic minimally invasive surgery costs more than traditional laparoscopic surgery or open surgery. Study after study has shown that using robotics can add approximately 20 percent (anywhere from $2,000 to $4,000) more to an operation.” At first when reading this, I thought this cost could be justified for having a better outcome than traditional surgeries. Reading further I found that there was another study that produced results concluding, “there was no difference in outcomes between robotic and traditional laparoscopic, the robot added $3,000 more per (colon) operation, and, if universally adopted, robotic-assisted surgery would add billions of dollars to our national healthcare tab.” I found this study information to be very interesting in that it seems illogical for the government, or individual hospitals even, to approve of the use of robotics when the extra cost isn’t justifying anything. When there are competent, hard-working surgeons available at a lower cost than robots, why not continue to rely on our surgeons and keep national healthcare costs as low as

Robotics can be virtual and/or mechanical objects that we use in everyday activities. Even though robots have been around since 1960’s. In the healthcare field we have become more dependent upon them since the 1980 's. Robots have been used to assist people in varies everyday task in laboratories and operating rooms. Some examples their usage are intervention with giving medication, assisting kids with autism, transferring and lifting patients. Although robots have made some of the healthcare fields task easier there can be questions with such technology which can impact ethical policy and non-human touch.

Ben-Or, S., Nifong, W., & Chitwood, W. (2013). Robotic Surgical Training. The Cancer Journal, 19(2), 120-123.

In today’s time of demand and supply of healthcare needs, organizations must discover or improve services that can meet the needs of patients’ whole at the same time generating revenue as well as achieving high standards for quality of care. One way organizations have done this is by investing in robotic systems to carry out a range of surgeries. In the following presentation I will discuss the topics of: Investing in the MAKO RIO Robotic System, The Utilization of the RIO Robotic System, Stakeholders

Al). This includes the increase in dexterity, the restore of proper hand-eye coordination, and improvement of visualization (Meyers et al.). In Cameron Scott’s article from the Healthline News, “Is da Vinci Robotic Surgery a Revolution or a Ripoff?,” he states that robotic devices including the da Vinci surgical device succeeds well in urology and the removal of prostate. Prostate removal is extremely difficult for open surgery practice, however the da Vinci made is easier with about 90 percent of these kinds of surgeries are now done robotically (Scott). Some evidence even suggest that with robotics used in prostatectomy, there is less blood loss, faster recovery, and fewer internal scarring (Scott.). There are many other examples from hospitals and manufactures that support the uses of robotic surgery and its benefits. However, even though these new technologies of robotic devices are supposedly be helping patients and making surgeries less invasive, they are still many concerns of how they should be properly regulated.

robotic assisted surgery, and research. McLaren was the first hospital in the area to perform a

For example, robotic technology is helping amputees by offering robotic body parts. This scientific breakthrough gives a person the power to grab things for themselves or get around without a wheelchair and continue with normal life. Robots not only help patients, but they also help the doctors by assisting with surgery. One example is the new DaVinci surgical system. This device allows the doctor to perform complex surgery with a minimally invasive approach through a separate console that magnifies the doctor’s view of the working area. This new technique allows the doctor to perform the same work on a minimalized scale which makes it easier to perform tasks where the human hand is too big to work. This minimally invasive approach also helps patients recover from surgery since the incision is smaller, reducing the risk of infections. According to DaVinci’s website, this new technology has helped over 3 million patients worldwide, which shows that many people are not afraid to trust these machines to do their job.

Imagine a place where robots can not only decrease mistakes, but it can also save many lives during dangerous and high risk surgeries. I have had friends and family have these procedures done, and it was helpful and successful. Telerobotic surgeries are helpful, it prevents less to no mistakes, less deaths, and makes procedures easier.

As technology improves, surgical robots are rapidly gaining support among both doctors and patients across America. Today more than 900 hospitals have the da Vinci robot which is double the number in 2007. (Freyer, 2010) Da Vinci robots were first approved by the FDA in 2000 for prostate removal, but now da Vinci robots are used for a variety of other surgical procedures (Freyer, 2010). Robot assisted surgery offers advantages such as smaller incisions, reduced blood loss, less pain and faster healing time (Vijay, 2010), as well as making surgery less demanding for the surgeon. Robotic surgery involves many obvious advantages but the impact of cost, access, and quality must

1. After looking at the type of work that Pew Charitable Trust Fund, I came up with a type of research that I would like to study. The Pew Foundations deals with medical issues such as drug safety and the safety of medical devices. Recently, the use of the Da-Vinci robotic surgery became a common option for surgery throughout many fields of medicine such as Oncology, Gastroenterology, Orthopedics, and Neurology. This robotic surgery is suppose to be a less invasive surgery method which operates through a few small incisions rather then invasively causing large scars. These different fields use the Da-Vinci as an alternative to operating surgeries. This advance of medicine brings up many questions about how efficient this option is, how much faster or slower it is, or if it is even safe. A topic I want to look at in regard to this robotic surgery is the issue if post-operation infection and pain is higher with the use of the Da-Vinci or with the use of regular invasive surgery.

The 21st century can rightfully be considered as the era of technology when the new inventions and discoveries will most likely affect all the segments of human life. At this point, some of the breakthrough inventions of our times have been in the medical field. Robotic surgery has become an almost common practice in the advanced medical world and new uses for robotic assisted surgery are everyday set in place. However, such developments also attract different interests and implications.

Imagine a robot doctor rolling into an operating room in scrubs and gloves and asking the nurses and other assistants, "What are we operating on today?" Unfortunately, technology is not quite there yet. Really, the use of robotics in surgery or even in the medical field is still subtle in most areas of the field. The robots themselves are more high-tech surgical instruments than they are robotic surgeons. However, imagine what this idea could be in ten or twenty years, it might become reality.

The Da Vinci Surgical System is a large purpose-built robot controlled by a surgeon that performs minimally invasive surgical procedures on patients. The system incorporates an ergonomically designed surgeon's console, a patient-side module with four interactive robotic arms, each with interchangeable surgical instruments and a 3-dimensional endoscopic vision system. Powered by high-tech supercomputers, the surgeon's hand movements are scaled, filtered and then converted into precise movements of the surgical attachments. The designers of the system are a team of doctors, engineers and biomedical engineers at a company called Intuitive Surgical.

Technology is transforming the medical field with the design of robotic devices and multifaceted imaging. Even though these developments have made operations much less invasive, robotic systems have their own disadvantages that prevent them from replacing surgeons all together. Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) is a broad notion encompassing a lot of common procedures that existed prior to the introduction of robots. It refers to general procedures that keep away from long cuts by entering the body through small, usually about 1cm, entry incisions, through which surgeons use long-handled instruments to operate on tissue inside the body. Such operations are directed by viewing equipment and, therefore, do not automatically need the use of a robot. Yet, it is not incorrect to say that computer-assisted and robotic surgeries are categories that fall under minimally invasive surgery (Robotic Surgery, n.d.).

The beginning use of surgical robots within medical setting benefits the surgeon as well as the patient; it gives the da Vinci Surgical System a bright future within today’s society.