Healthcare Directory

surgery Changing the face (and hands) of modern surgery cal System robot, to aid in the radical prostatectomy. Like the visionary it was named after, the da Vinci robot I Fayetteville doctors are using robotics to treat patients | BY DONNIE BYERS n May 2011, Cape Fear Valley Health set a milestone when it performed its first robotically assisted surgery on a prostate cancer patient. The attending surgeon lit- erally rolled in his first assistant, a new da Vinci® Surgi- uses unparalleled anatomical accuracy and highly intricate, three-dimensional detail to its advantage. And surgeons who have used the technology are raving about its prowess. Robots have long played surgeons on the big screen in sci- ence fiction movies, but this machine looks more like auto assembly line-material than human android. The da Vinci ro- bot is a hulking piece of equipment with spider-like arms that can mimic the natural movement of human arms and hands. It's this ability to fluently move its upper appendages that breaks like its human counterpart. It silently stands above the patient during surgery, doing whatever its operator in- structs from a nearby command console. The surgeon's hands and feet control the robot's arms makes da Vinci robots ideal for the operating room. Each arm can skillfully work in the tiniest of spaces, which would oth- erwise be impossible to reach by human hands. Think of it as minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery taken to the extreme. The robot is no lumbering giant either. It's mechanical arms and hands are so delicate and precise that they can peel back the skin of a grape or create miniature origami models no larger than a quarter. gery at Cape Fear Valley Health and a Urologist with Cape Fear Valley Urology, was at the helm of the da Vinci during its maiden operation at Cape Fear Valley. He says the possibili- ties are almost endless for da Vincis in the operating room. "The robot's laparoscopic procedures, but the robots have been used in everything from hysterectomies and liver resections to heart surgery and spine cases. Christian deBeck, M.D., Medical Director of Robotic Sur- gram in Wilmington. He says the da Vinci's biggest advan- tage over traditional laparoscopic surgery is the detailed im- agery it shows of inside the patient. amazing," says Dr. deBeck. "It addresses all these different types of surgeries, for both men and women." Dr. deBeck helped launch a similar robotic-surgery pro- instrumentation and precision is pretty 2012 Medical & Dental Directory | 23 The da Vinci also never gets fatigued or requires rest while looking through a high-tech viewing system. Every move the robot makes mimics the surgeon. The FDA approved the use of da Vincis in 2000 for general

• Cover