Thread: Robot Surgeons
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Old 10-22-2010, 11:04 PM   #3 (permalink)
FreydNot
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I've worked with the da Vinci before and it is pretty damn cool (we sell an accessory for it). I don't think of it as a bad robot because it doesn't do anything on its own and it doesn't think for itself. It takes the hand motion from a surgeon, scales it down (or up I guess) and moves the laparoscopic instruments accordingly. It also gives the surgeon a 3rd hand to work with. You can retract something with the 3rd instrument, freeze it in place and then toggle back to the main two instruments. Well, it does a lot more than that, but that is the general idea.

I'll still keep the Windex around, but I'm not too worried about the da Vinci taking over the world. The console where the surgeon sits is only like 15 or 20 feet away from the operating table.

This is the best demonstration I know of (that doesn't have any blood and guts in it). It was done 3 years ago so it was a first generation SD unit. The display has gotten a lot fancier. The pay off it at the end. If your ADD won't let you watch the whole minute 14 seconds, at least watch the last 20 seconds or so.





And this is a terrible video showing off the capabilities of the da Vinci system. I'm not sure what they were thinking. A for effort I guess...

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