DA VINCI DECODED

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Da Vinci Surgical System at Doctors Medical Center

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The world of medical science is receiving a makeover with the inclusion of robotics in surgical technology.  One of the leading machines in medical surgery today is The Da Vinci System.  The Da Vinci has 4 arms, 3 of which perform precise surgical procedures, while the forth arm is equipped with a camera (CBC News, 2006).  This camera has superior viewing capabilities, estimated at 12-15 times magnification, allowing the surgeon to view 3-dimensional pictures from inside the surgical area (Sinnema, 2007).  This technology helps to make incisions much more accurate, preventing nerve damage to the patient and ensuring a more effective procedure (Science Daily, 2007).  The other 3 arms are what perform the procedure itself with its pincer-like fingers that make precise incisions.  The surgeon controls the Da Vinci with joysticks.  In essence, the Da Vinci is supposed to make surgical procedures more efficient (Capital Health, 2007).

The Da Vinci not only reduces the risk of nerve damage and scarring because of less invasive incisions, but also has shown to increase the recovery rate and reduce the recovery time for patients (Sinnema, 2007).  This takes a huge burden off health care costs as well as allowing many more surgical procedures to be done per year.  It is estimate that 150 more procedures per year can be performed with the help of just one of these robots (Capital Health, 2007).

Due to the fact that the Da Vinci is a new technology, the true extent on issues concerning mortality rate, or other margins of error is not well known.  Despite the approval for use in Canadian hospitals, as with any other machine, there is always the chance of malfunction with every procedure.  Furthermore, there is the issue of the cost of the Da Vinci, its maintenance and the subsequent quadrupling of the cost of each surgery to the health care system (CBC News, 2006). The Da Vinci itself costs 4 million dollars to buy and requires expensive maintenance.  It increases the price of each procedure from approximately one thousand to four thousand dollars (<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Montgomery, 2007).

A particular article that dealt with this issue was released on December 8, 2006 by CBC, discussing the Da Vinci Robot being brought to the <?xml:namespace prefix = st2 ns = "urn:schemas:contacts" />St. Josephs Hospital in London, specifically for prostate surgeries. The article discusses the pros and cons of the hospital purchasing the robot.  On one hand, St. Joseph’s health centre is hoping to be able to perform more prostate surgeries which are less invasive and more beneficial.  The Da Vinci is also supposed to have a lower incidence of bladder control and impotence problems post-operation.  On the other hand, Doctors such as Lawrence Klotz, from Sunnybrook hospital in Toronto, claims that “numerous studies have not found evidence to back up the claim.”  Dr. Klotz insists that the Da Vinci is nothing but a very expensive ‘toy’ (CBC News, 2006).

Surgical robots are increasingly moving into the forefront of the news because they are one of the first technologies to create such huge ethical controversy.  People are wary of having a machine take the place of humans in such a delicate capacity.  During a very vulnerable time in one’s life, a surgical patient finds comfort in the trust of the surgeon who holds their life in their hands.  It is difficult for a human to trust another human with their life, let alone a machine.  From the CBC article alone, it is apparent that very vocal parties have different views on the implementation of surgical roles in hospitals.  Some people do not have enough faith in the technology to give it precedence in the operating room.  However, some surgeons have sworn by technology, stressing it as the future of medical surgery.  The Da Vinci robot creates a new meaning for “under the knife,” because, as we all know, it is not the knife we are afraid of, but the person behind it.  It is important to bring people’s attention to what the future of medical technology looks like and how it will affect people’s lives, and change the health care system forever.