New surgical robot offers greater precision

August 1, 2009
The Concordian
By Tamara Steiner

A two-year fundraising effort by the John Muir Health Foundation has paid off handsomely with the purchase of two new surgical "robots" for John Muir Medical Center's Walnut Creek and Concord campuses.

The state-of-the-art, high definition daVinci robot replaces an earlier model that has been in use on the Concord campus since 2002 and is the first for the Walnut Creek campus.

The $4 million price tag came from thousands of small donations from the community - most less than $100, said Kimberly Lowe, capital campaign director for the foundation.

Robotic-assisted surgery requires just a few small incisions, resulting in less pain and faster recovery for the patient. There is also less risk of infection, minimal blood loss and overall, less trauma to the body.

The new equipment will allow surgeons to perform much more complex procedures than they can using traditional laparoscopic and older roboticassisted techniques. The robot eliminates any shaking coming from the surgeon's hand, leading to more precision.

"The equipment is smaller and more flexible, allowing us to get to places where hands don't fit," explains Dr. Samuel Oommen, a colorectal surgeon on the John Muir staff.

Less pain and faster recovery mean patients generally favor robotic surgery, says Mike Thomas, president and chief administrative officer at the John Muir Concord campus. Since its arrival in January, 115 surgeries have been performed using the new robot.

With more than 95 percent of all prostate surgery robotically-assisted, the daVinci "is now the gold standard," says Oommen.

The daVinci robotic system consists of three networked components- a surgeon's console, a cart with four robotic arms and a 3D vision system. A tiny camera is at the end of one of the arms. The other three arms contain the surgical instruments.

Surgeon Dr. Samuel Oommen explains one of two new daVinci surgical robot system recently acquired by John Muir Hospital at a demonstration at the Concord campus on June 24.

The arms exactly mimic the wrist motion of the human hand, wrists and fingers. Sitting at the console, the surgeon controls the arms while looking through a high-definition viewer.

"With the daVinci, the surgeon can do things that might otherwise be impossible and get much better results," notes Dr. Babak Edraki, a gynecologic oncology specialist.

The John Muir Health Foundation was set up in 1979 to raise money for the non-profit John Muir Medical Center.

To donate or for more information about the foundation, click here.

(Posted August 1, 2009)