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A multi-purpose robot will soon give "cutting-edge" technology a whole new meaning as it begins surgeries at Mercy-Ascot Hospital in Hamilton.
Two of the hospital's surgeons, Mike MacKie and Chris Hawke, are trialling the country's first remote-controlled da Vinci surgical robot. They say the $2 million robot allows surgeons to accurately work in unaccommodating, tight parts of the body, such as the pelvis or chest. Such robots have been extensively used in the US to treat prostate cancer, and are now increasingly being used to help patients suffering from bladder cancer.
The robotic machinery allows doctors to sit at a console and manipulate instruments inside patients, while watching the action through a camera. The operations have fewer complications and are said to be less painful for patients.
