In first, heart surgery performed by robot

UPI ^ | April 29, 2010

[myknowledge]

GLENFIELD, England, April 29 (UPI) -- British cardiologists used a robotic arm to perform surgery to correct an irregular heartbeat while the surgeon was in another room, hospital officials said.

The procedure, a medical first, involved passing a thin metal wire along the patient's blood vessels and into the heart where a precise dot of heat was then applied to a faulty section of heart muscle, said officials at Glenfield Hospital, one of England's primary hospitals for coronary care.

Cardiologist Andre Ng of the nearby University of Leicester carried out the procedure using the $540,000 Catheter Robotics Remote Catheter Manipulation System, the officials said.

[myknowledge]

Heart surgery robot: What a modern medicine masterpiece. A blessing for every heart surgeon in hospitals everywhere.

[LukeL]

I am sorry but I do not see the need for this. Ablations are pretty much straight forward. Robots are good for things like brain surgery where 1/10th of a milimeter can be the difference between life and death.

[Psycho_Bunny]

It looks cool but guess what Obamacare is never going to pay for.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

Perhaps you missed the part where the operation takes 1/8th the length of time. That translates into significant savings & less stress and trauma for the patient. Seems worthwhile to me — especially when costs will fall, as the technology matures.

[denco]

have you heard of robotic prostrate surgery. very successful in the treatment of prostrate cancer. saved my husband's life. denco