The Potential Of Robotic Surgical Devices Hampered By Inadequate Regulations

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.

surgeons are going to use these robotic devices in the operating room, if it’s going to harm the

I believe the continued development and use of surgical robots will eventually eradicate the need for surgical technologists. If there are robots that are capable of performing surgery under the direction of a surgeon I do not know why there wouldn't be robots to perform the role of a surgical technologist. This could potentially be better for the patient as there would be decreased infections rates with no direct human interaction. However, I do not know that I would personally ever want a machine to be working on or near me without being controlled by a person. The use of the NOTES technique could definitely have some major advantages for the patient. The idea of scar free surgery is amazing. This would result is much less pain for the

According to UC Davis Heath System, Debra Johnson, a sixty-year-old woman diagnosed with endometrial cancer, had to undergo robotic-assisted surgery from a Surgical Doctor, Gary Leisoerowiz, from UC Davis Medical Center in 2006 (UC Davis Health System). Debra went though with the surgery and received positive results including a fast recovery, no severe scars, and cancer free (UC Davis Health System). However, in a different case involving robotic surgical device used on a patient thing went horribly wrong. According to the Daily News and the article, “Surgical robot da Vinci scrutinized by FDA after Death, Other Surgical Nightmares”, Juan Fernandez died during

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.

One of the most important aspects to any new technique in healthcare is to develop enough information to decide if the benefits outweigh the risks. According to the Wall Street Journal, in 2000, there were only 1,000 robotic surgeries globally. That number increased to 360,000 in 2011 and 450,000 last year (Pinkerton, 2013). Almost all sources, including the da Vinci Surgical System website, have specified that for the patient, who receives robotic surgery, usually experiences less blood loss, a shorter hospital stay and less dependence on postoperative pain medication. There is also a benefit in cosmetics where there is no evidence of big scars since robotic surgery instruments enter through tiny incisions (da Vinci Surgical System, 2015). Benefits related to the surgeon include decreased back pain and greater range of motion and precision. This is because the procedures do not have the surgeons constantly bending over an operating table for however long the surgery would take. According to Becker (2012), the enhanced screen with 3D like image and three interactive robotic arms, all with the capability of achieving range of motion greater than the human

“Last year, 73,000 American men — 86 percent of the 85,000 who had prostate cancer surgery — had robot-assisted operations,”.

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.

Robot surgeons, however, is not only beneficial to physicians and patients, it is an additional benefit to hospital administration. While MIS limits invasiveness and tissue damage, Gerhardus (2003) stated “Consequently, the IOM proposed six objectives that illustrate the improved quality of health care: safety, effectiveness, patient centeredness, timeliness, efficiency, and equity.” Improving the flow of an OR room, allowing physicians to treat more patients then when using conventional techniques.

Surgical instruments in the medical branch, has changed drastically because of the new medical innovations we have today. Medical instruments for the past are still being used today in their original forms. Although small changes might have been added to the original surgical instruments. TransEnterix makes robots specifically for surgical assistance. A TransExterix robot has been recently sold in Milan, Italy. This surgical robot has been made for many different surgical specialties. Such as, “general surgery, Urology, gynecology and thoracic surgery” (Urology Times” 35). Lasers are also a huge advancement in the medical field. Since lasers are being used more in neuro surgeries, there has been better than harm in addition to having them being used in surgeries. If there was no change in operations, the amount of time it would take one to perform a surgery would take twice as long without the advanced medical technology. The advanced technology used today has innovations that change the process and timing of

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.).

For certain cases where surgeons face technical difficulties, the facility should have the ability to convert to laparoscopy upon surgeon’s request. Such technical issues that impact patient safety would require the presence of engineers and technicians to troubleshoot the robotic surgeons during the surgery, however, the engineers’ guidelines are for the use of the machine during the surgery or to troubleshoot after an incident. A study done based on the adverse events data related to robotic systems and instruments used surgery and a report to MAUDE from January 2000 to December 2013 indicate that during the study period, 144 deaths (1.4% of the 10,624 reports), 1,391 patient injuries (13.1%), and 8,061 device malfunctions (75.9%) occurred. Device and instrument malfunctions, such as falling of burnt/broken pieces of instruments into the patient (14.7%), electrical arcing of instruments (10.5%), unintended operation of instruments (8.6%), system errors (5%), and video/imaging problems (2.6%), constituted a major part of the reports. In 1,104 (10.4%) of the events, the procedure was interrupted to restart the system (3.1%), to convert the procedure to non-robotic techniques (7.3%), or to reschedule it to a later time (2.5%) (Alemzadeh, Iyer, Kalbarczyk, Leveson, Raman, 2015). As the surgical and medical field continues to adopt advanced technological machines and equipment, safety based design technics

The medical field has revolutionized the health and well being of society. Throughout the decades, the medical field has been through sweeping changes that leave society astonished. It seems like each year that passes by, there is a new technological advancement that modernizes the medical field. Not only do these advancements modernize medicine, but they in return aid doctors, nurses, and specialists by improving their effectiveness within the field. About ten years ago, the da Vinci Surgical System was introduced to hospitals and the medical field, in general because the FDA had finally approved the system within the United States (Dunkin). The da Vinci Surgical System, also known basically as robotic surgery, introduced the use of a