This morning's events were almost identical to last week's, with the exception being a rather interesting lecture that I attended before valve conference. The lecture was about robot-assisted tumor removals in the mediastinum (the upper chest cavity, containing the heart and lungs and surrounded by the ribs), something I'd never learned about. What really interested me about this lecture was the footage the doctors had of the surgery. The robotic arms sent into the mediastinum were accompanied by a high-quality video camera, which gave everyone watching the lecture a really great look at the cavity and the movement of the robotic arms. Robot-assisted surgery is being heralded as the next big step for minimally invasive surgery, and many of the doctors at the lecture were genuinely impressed by the robot's range of movement. The two robotic arms are even equipped with cauteries, special tools that use an electric current to burn through tissue. After the lecture, the room broke out into (well-mediated) discussion, with the doctors speaking their minds about the footage- some argued that the dexterity of a human hand would be hard to match using a machine, while others preferred the robot assistance for its cleanliness and quicker patient recovery time. The latter argument became much stronger after the lecturer told everyone that the patient from the footage went home just one day after the surgery. A thoracotomy tumor removal would take weeks to heal, and leave the patient with a noticeable scar along his or her chest; a robot-assisted removal, however, just leaves three small puncture holes. The world of thoracic surgery is truly changing rapidly.
Here's a video example of a robot-assisted posterior mediastinal tumor removal. This might be graphic for some:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arUrgtTv1TY
P.S, I've had a bit of a cold recently, which is why this post is going up so late- but hey, better late than never.
No comments:
Post a Comment