da vinci surgical systemRobots are everywhere these days helping us to vacuum our house’s floor, cut our lawn, inspect oil pipelines and even fight terrorism. There is however an even more important application for these marvels of technology and that is medical robotics. Don’t be surprised if the next time you need surgery your doctor is assisted by a medical robot in the Operating Room. One such robot is the da Vinci Surgical System that is becoming increasingly popular in many ORs and it is often used for prostate cancer surgery.

Intuitive Surgical from Sunnyvale, California, are the makers of the robot that sells for a bit over 1 million US dollars. They claim to have sold more than 300 robots to hospitals and academia.

“The da Vinci Surgical System consists of an ergonomically designed surgeon’s console, a patient-side cart with four interactive robotic arms, the high-performance InSite® Vision System and proprietary EndoWrist® Instruments. Powered by state-of-the-art robotic technology, the surgeon’s hand movements are scaled, filtered and seamlessly translated into precise movements of the EndoWrist Instruments. The net result: an intuitive interface with breakthrough surgical capabilities.”

It is obvious that this robot does not actually make any decisions and it definitely does not perform the surgery on its own. It is just a very complex tool that allows a surgeon to perform the surgery in a minimally invasive way. The end result is less pain and a faster recovery for the patient.