Robotic surgery is a type of minimally invasive surgery during which doctors use very small surgical instruments that fit into a patient’s body through a series of tiny incisions.
These instruments are mounted on three robotic arms, allowing a surgeon maximum range and precision of motion as he or she performs the procedure. A fourth arm holds a high-definition, 3-dimensional camera that enhances visualization—magnifying the tissue and structures of the body ten-fold—and guides the surgeon during the procedure.
The surgeons control their instruments and camera at a console in the operating room. Using finger and foot controls, they operate all four arms of the robot while looking through a stereoscopic, high-definition monitor.
The robot translates the surgeon’s hand, wrist, and finger movements to guide each instrument in real-time, after scaling each movement down to size. For example, a one-inch movement may be scaled down to a quarter-inch, allowing extraordinary surgical precision and operative control.
Robotic surgery can play a vital role in the fields of thoracic surgery, vascular surgery, general surgery, cardiac surgery, gastrointestinal surgery, gynaecology, neurosurgery, orthopaedics, paediatrics, radiosurgery and urology.
The Institute of Robotic Surgery (IRS) at SGRH was started in 2012 with the aim of developing it into a centre of excellence in the field of surgical robotics. Today it offers services to patients in a variety of subspecialties.
Currently, we are looking to acquire the latest generation of robots from a host of manufacturers. We are proud to announce that we are the only centre with simulator facility in this surgical robotic system, wherein the surgeons can actually perform a virtual operation before performing the actual one.
The IRS has the following objectives:
