Students get hands-on lesson in robotic surgery at Wadley
Wadley Regional Medical Center recently hosted nearly 300 students to see demonstrations of its da Vinci® Surgical System on display in the hospital lobby.
Jennifer Musgraves, a counselor at Kilpatrick Elementary School, said it’s great exposure for the fourth-graders she escorted to the event.
“It’s a hands-on learning experience. They get to connect what they learn in the classroom to what’s going on in the real world. They love it. It keeps them interested because it’s new and exciting,” Musgraves said.
Kilpatrick is a biomedical engineering magnet school.
“This connects with our magnet. It allows us to take what they’ve learned in the classroom and show them it’s for real,” Musgraves said. Wadley held the event to educate the public about less invasive robotic surgery.
“It’s to raise awareness of the different types of surgery we use the robot for,” said Shelby Brown, Wadley director of marketing. “We want to make sure the public knows there are surgeons trained to use this,” Brown said. “We did the first surgery with the robot July 8, 2009.” The da Vinci® Surgical System, made by Intuitive Surgical, is used weekly in gynecologic, thoracic, urologic, colorectal and general surgeries.
The robot allows surgeons to make a smaller incision, which results in less post-surgery pain, recovery time and blood loss.
Tony Digilormo, a sales representative, said training for surgeons is extensive—including hours of online training, practice with the robot, live tissue lab training and being proctored by a surgeon experienced with the robot.
“We work on the different aspects of surgery,” Digilormo said.
The advantage for surgeons using the robot include a 3D high-definition vision system and tiny instruments with more flexibility than the human hand.
“It’s more accurate and more precise. It essentially allows surgeons to do more minimally invasive surgery,” Digilormo said.