There is some good news for Valley residents suffering from prostate or uterine cancer. Patients will no longer have to travel out of the area for "state of the art" surgery. We explain how a robot is on the cutting edge of treating the illness.
Surgery for prostate and uterine cancer is going high tech, all thanks to a robot, the da Vinci Surgical System. The treatment is the same with a minimal invasive approach. There is less blood loss, less recovery time and less pain. The surgeon will sit at a console and see everything from the patient through a viewfinder, and then whatever he does with his hands will be translated to the robot. This not only allows for better control, but also a sharper image.
And while all the bells and whistles may seem intimidating, Dr. Ricchiuti says the robot is just another vital tool in the fight against cancer. It is similar to a car, you need someone to drive it. It does not drive itself. The robot is no different than that.
Surgeons at Saint Elizabeth's have been in the drivers seat of this robot twice so far. The hospital is the first in the area to offer the surgery, and is one of about four hundred nationally to do so. It is nice in the way that people here in the area can recover in their own backyard.
The Da Vinci Surgical System is set up at St. Elizabeth's Hospital, and today, patients and staff from St. Joe's in Warren got a chance to check out the equipment.
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