Surgeons using technology-supported surgical systems, e.g. lasers and robotics, are challenged not to lose sight of the human element, which influenced the theme Humanity through technology for the 126th Annual Congress of the German Society for Surgery (DGCH) held in Munich this April.
Training is critical to the further development of urology across Europe, yet urologists recognise there are gaps in this; so much so that the European Society of Urological Technology (ESUT) has restructured with an emphasis on training to meet the demands and challenges ahead. Mark Nicholls reports.
Catheter ablation is still associated with a substantial amount of complications, and more failure then sometimes reported. Perforation with catheters is especially important in atrial fibrillation. Robotic navigation could reduce these complications.
London, UK - A Hansen Sensei* robot has been used to perform vascular surgery on a 78-year-old patient for an aneurysm that would have been thought too high-risk for conventional surgery.
Hunt Biobank, Norway's biggest research biobank, is using Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc's Nautilus LIMS in its HUNT 3 study, to gather, store, manage, track and retrieve the biological data of approximately 100,000 people from Nord-Trøndelag County.
At the Medizin Innovativ 2008 congress (9-10 July, Nuremburg, Germany) Professor Jens-Uwe Stolzenburg MD (right), Director of the Urology Clinic and Polyclinic at the University Hospital Leipzig, talked about his experiences with the da Vinci robot. Used by surgeons at University Hospital Leipzig since last October 2007, they performed 40 operations in the first two months.
Laparoscopy is playing an increasingly important role in urology and centres of excellence have been established to provide training in urological laparoscopic surgery.
Over 15 million people are affected by strokes annually, and about five million of these (source: WHO 2004) are left with lasting damage.
Toshiba has developed robotic forceps for use in laparoscopic surgery — a type of minimally invasive surgery that contributes to the patient's quality of life. By using the robotic forceps, the surgeon can lay sutures from any direction without difficulty.
Good news for overworked hospital staff: Maybe in just a few years they will be supported by little robots that could clean up the sickrooms, look for the doctor or show visitors the right way. A new EU project led by the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO should make this scenario possible.
About 1,600,000 artificial hips are implanted every year, in Germany alone.
In its first year, 450 patients have been treated with CyberKnife - the unique Robotic Radiosurgery System.
The brain has few anatomical landmarks. During surgery it is critical that the neurosurgeon knows the exact locality of surgical instruments in relation to important brain structures. Thus neuronavigation systems have become standard tools for planning and guidance.
The Austrian Society for Surgery and associated societies will focus on oncology/MIS,
Robotic technology has helped to advance MIS - particularly for the very small anatomies of children. Among the newest innovations is the Socrates Robotic Telecollaboration System, which integrates telecommunication equipment, networked surgical devices and robotics, to enable remote teaching and surgical collaboration.
Innovative Technologies are the driving force behind the development of medical procedures aimed at minimum invasiveness with the highest precision and best clinical results.
Total knee replacement (TKR) is a common procedure for treatment of severe gonarthrosis, but the outcome may be unsatisfactory due to primary malalignment of the prosthetic components. To improve precision and accuracy of this surgical procedure, CASPAR, a commercial robotic surgical system, has been adapted to assist the surgeon in preoperative planning and intraoperative execution of TKR
From science-fiction to powerful medical tool: Robots perform an increasing number of valuable tasks in healthcare settings. From surgical robotics to applications in patient care – medical robots are here to stay. Keep reading for latest developments and exciting new areas of deployment for this technology.