SEPT. 25, 2007 | As the medical student manipulated the controls with both hands while peering into the viewer, the action goes on a few feet away under a bright surgical light as tiny pincers extending from robotic arms make minute, coordinated movements.

“Can you pick up the coin?” asks UAMS Chancellor I. Dodd Wilson, M.D., as he looks on.

UAMS Robotic Surgery Website

A split second later the robotic arm moves in closer to a plate filed with plastic spires and other objects. The pincer extends and clamps onto a dime wedged in among the plastic obstacles, pulling it up.

“That’s amazing,” Wilson said, echoing the sentiments of many others who got a chance to see the Sept. 21 demonstration of the newly arrived da Vinci Surgical System, a robotic surgical tool that will improve surgical efficiency and patient recovery when it goes to work. The first procedure to use the new tool at UAMS was scheduled for the week of Sept. 24, with a surgery conducted by Rabii Madi, M.D., assistant professor of urology in the UAMS College of Medicine.

“We believe this system will enhance the quality and efficiency of many surgical procedures,” said Graham Greene, M.D., associate professor in the UAMS College of Medicine and holder of the Robert Woods Bass Chair in Genitourinary Oncology at UAMS. “It’s minimally invasive, so it will decrease the incision needed for a procedure, which in turn reduces the time it takes a patient to recover and be ready to leave the hospital.”

According to the maker of the da Vinci Surgical System, the robot will be included in some 65 percent of prostate removal surgeries this year. At UAMS, the system will be used by urologists, gynecologists, general surgeons and other surgical specialties.

With the da Vinci system, small incisions are used to introduce miniaturized instruments and a high-definition 3D camera. Seated at the console, the surgeon views a magnified, high-resolution 3D image of the surgical site.

At the same time, state-of-the-art robotic and computer technologies scale, filter and seamlessly translate the surgeon's hand movements into precise micro-movements of the da Vinci instruments. The robot arms enter the body through small ports instead of requiring a larger incision to allow surgeons to perform a procedure.

A steady stream of UAMS employees stopped by the da Vinci demonstration, each getting a turn to sit at the console and work the controls. Some would use the graspers to stretch a rubber band between two points, while others would pick up a coin or other small objects.

“It was very easy to operate and very natural feeling,” said Kristin Mitchell, a third-year medical student from Hot Springs.

Greene added it also was important for UAMS to have such high technology tools to fulfill its education mission as well.

“UAMS has a mandate to bring new tools for excellence in care to our patients as well as for education future physicians and health care professionals,” Greene said.

Links on This Page

Robotic Surgery Website:
http://www.uams.edu/robotic_surgery/

da Vinci Surgical System:
http://www.davincisurgery.com/surgery/system/index.aspx

UAMS College of Medicine:
http://www.uams.edu/COM/default.asp