Robotic surgery technology offers many benefits to hospitals. Before adopting them, however, hospitals must carefully consider costs and financial sustainability of this form of intervention, taking into account patient demand as well as budget considerations when planning such systems.
Less invasive surgical methods offer surgeons and their patients several advantages over more invasive methods, including decreased pain from lengthy traditional processes and faster recovery time and lower risks.
What’s the Future of Robotics in Surgery?
Robotic surgery systems offer precision and automation that can lead to shorter surgery times, reduced blood loss and faster recoveries times, potentially driving cost savings [38]. [38].
Surgeon fatigue is reduced significantly when surgeons can operate from a more comfortable seated position at a console, contributing to greater performance during extended surgeries and longevity as surgical professionals.
Technology such as haptics is increasingly being integrated into robot-assisted surgical platforms to increase surgeon dexterity and performance, while remote surgeries via telesurgery offer access to specialty medical care in underserved areas, while also helping address healthcare disparities. Telesurgery utilizes robotic systems connected to high-speed Internet for remote surgeries utilizing real-time video/voice communication between surgeons in different locations allowing real time collaboration on procedures with all movements controlled from an operating table by surgeon.
Robotic Surgery vs. Laparoscopic Surgery
When people hear “robot”, their mind often wanders to images of humanoid machines capable of holding conversations or plotting an overthrow of mankind. However, robots have also proven helpful for increasing surgical precision while decreasing recovery times for patients undergoing procedures.
Robotic surgery entails surgeons sitting at a console in an operating room and operating instruments through small incisions. An endoscope magnifies internal areas ten times for easy viewing, and surgical tools attached to three robotic arms help move this equipment around as necessary.
The robot translates a surgeon’s hand, wrist, and finger movements directly onto instruments in real time for unparalleled surgical precision and operative control, including motion scaling technology that reduces tremor while increasing instrument dissection. A scrub nurse and surgical assistant remain with him throughout surgery to assist in changing instruments or providing extra suction as necessary.
Robotic Surgery vs. Open Surgery
Robotic surgery typically leads to less blood loss and complications compared to open and laparoscopic surgeries, and requires fewer incisions for faster recovery times.
Robotic systems respond only to your surgeon’s precise hand and finger movements and do not operate independently, meaning your surgeon remains in the operating room and continues to direct the procedure throughout.
Your surgeon will make a few small incisions in your abdomen and insert ports (thin tubes). An endoscope, a long, thin camera used for endoscopic surgeries, will be placed through one port and provide high-definition 3D images during surgery; another port holds robotic arms controlled from a console several feet away. An assistant remains scrubbed alongside you during this process to help switch instruments as necessary; some robots even have the capability of milling precise fittings into a femur for hip replacement surgery.
Robotic Surgery vs. Endoscopic Surgery
Robotic systems give surgeons more precision, flexibility and control during surgery. Furthermore, they allow delicate procedures that would otherwise be difficult or impossible with traditional surgical techniques to be accomplished successfully. Meanwhile, patients may benefit from minimally invasive surgeries by experiencing less pain and scarring after minimally invasive surgeries, shorter hospital stays and quicker recoveries times.
Working from a console, surgeons operate robotic arms that hold and manipulate tiny instruments inserted through keyhole-sized incisions. A camera provides real-time, high-resolution magnified 3D images of the surgical site; with every move made at the console being replicated inside your body for greater surgical control.
Most institutions use robotic-assisted surgery to establish themselves as “cutting edge” providers of healthcare. Yet few hospitals actually conduct many robotic-assisted procedures themselves. Integrating robotic technology into existing surgical programs may prove expensive, while training surgeons to use the robot properly requires time and money.
