Robotic-assisted surgery using a new $1.5 million da Vinci® Surgical System is now being employed at Marin General Hospital. The robotic platform is designed to enhance surgical ability for surgeons while using a minimally invasive approach. Currently hospital surgeons are using the system primarily for gynecologic procedures and prostate surgery. Gynecologic procedures include hysterectomies for various uterine conditions; myomectomies for uterine fibroids; and sacrocolpopexies for pelvic organ prolapse. Plans call for expanded use of the system in the future for general surgeries.
“This surgical system raises the standard of care for our patients,” said David Galland, MD, a Larkspur gynecologist, one of the surgeons who uses the da Vinci® system at Marin General Hospital. “This translates into many patient benefits, including less pain, shorter hospital stays, a shorter recovery and faster return to normal daily activities.”
About 300 da Vinci® systems are in use worldwide. In the North Bay, MGH's system is the only one in Marin, Sonoma and Lake Counties and is one of only a few high-definition systems in the entire San Francisco Bay Area.
“We are keeping on the leading edge of medicine,” said Dr. Galland. "This technology allows us to conduct surgeries we have done through large incisions through small minimally invasive incisions in a way that offers many patients significant benefits over traditional surgery. It's very exciting."
da Vinci® cannot operate without a surgeon’s expertise. The system is designed to scale, filter and seamlessly translate the surgeon’s movements into more precise movements through its robotic instruments. Surgeons sit at a console in the operating room and control four interactive robot arms that operate on the patient using a high performance vision system. The surgical instrument design features jointed wrists, which exceed the natural range of motion of the human hand, thus enabling surgeons to operate with greater dexterity and control.
During conventional laparoscopic surgery, surgeons stand using hand-held, long-shafted instruments, which have no wrists. They must look up and away from the instruments to a nearby two-dimensional monitor to see the operating field and rely on a surgical assistant to position the camera correctly. da Vinci® transforms the surgical process.