Surgical Robotics – Justify the High Costs

Robots are making their place known in the OR, particularly with the “da Vinci Surgical Robot” by Intuitive Surgical.  From minimally invasive heart surgery to OB/GYN to urology procedures, the use of this robot is on the rise.

The da Vinci Surgical Robot

So what’s the big hub-bub about all this? Well to begin with, the recovery period when using robotic surgery for heart valve procedures is reduced dramatically. “You can really minimize the extent of trauma with the robot”, says Dr. Jeffrey Everett, from the University of Tennessee. “The big thing for patients is recovery time. If we do the surgery with the da Vinci, patients can resume full activity in a couple of weeks versus probably three to four months for open heart procedures.”

Another benefit is the fact that the procedure is less invasiveness using this robot. As a result, the patient’s sternum is not “cracked” open, but rather the procedure entails a three inch incision as shown below.

Finally, the procedural risk of robotic surgery for heart valve repair is incredibly low.

By enhancing surgical capabilities with the “da Vinci Robo”, patients experiences reduced blood loss and need for transfusions, less post-operative pain and discomfort , less risk of infection, shorter hospital stay, faster recovery, return to normal daily activities, less scarring and improved cosmesis.

To learn more about this surgical robot, watch the video provided by Intuitive Surgical at http://www.intuitivesurgical.com/products/da_vinci_video_overview.aspx.

The tough part to swallow about surgical robotics is the investment risk. For the da Vinci Surgical System, the upfront cost is around $1.5 million with annual maintenance costs of over $100,000. While hospitals can save on costs by decreasing the length of a patient’s stay due to a shorter recovery period, they might not save enough to justify the expense of the system. So when does this hefty price tag of surgical robots make sense for a hospital or surgery center?

In today’s ORs, one to three surgeons, an anesthesiologist and several nurses are all needed for even the simplest of surgeries. However, with surgical robotic automation, robots will eventually eliminate some OR personnel. It’s predicted in the future that surgery may involve only one surgeon, an anesthesiologist and two nurses, thus eliminating surgeon(s), as well as 4 to 5 surgical personnel. Another advantage to surgical robots is increased “telesurgery” procedures by surgeons. Understand that in the past, the major obstacle in telesurgery has been the time delay between the doctor moving one’s hands to the robotic arms responding to those movements. As things stand today, the doctor must be in the room with the patient for robotic systems to react instantly to the doctor’s hand movements. However, as technology improves, surgeons will have instantaneous control/response of the robotic system, whether standing just a few feet or thousands of miles away from the patient. When this happens, performing telesurgery from any location will become a natural transition for many surgeons.

In summary, surgical robots will reduce OR personnel, allow doctors the ability to operate on a patient long-distance and reduce hospital stays for patients, thus lowering the cost of health care for surgical procedures.

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