A minimally invasive surgical option with surgeon in control.

Shore Medical Center is pleased to announce the recent acquisition of the da Vinci Xi surgical robotic system by Intuitive, designed with the goal of further advancing technology used in minimally invasive care. The first robot assisted surgery was performed at Shore on October 17 during a robotic hernia repair by Dr. James Tayoun.

“We are thrilled to welcome latest robot technology to our surgical capabilities at Shore Medical Center,” said Leonard Galler, MD, FACS, Clinical and Administrative Chairman of the Department of Surgery. “The da Vinci Xi offers enhanced visualization for our surgeons, smaller incisions, expedited recovery and pain mitigation for patients and, subsequently, a diminished need for narcotics. The robot’s precision and dexterity also enable us to better conduct surgery in complex areas, such as the lower abdomen, reducing the potential for surgical trauma and infection.”

Just as technologies, such as MRI and CT scanners, enhance doctor’s skills beyond what the human body allows, robotic-assisted surgery using a da Vinci system extends the capabilities of a surgeon’s eyes and hands. Surgeons stay in the operating room and uses their hands to control a camera and surgical instruments to perform the procedure while viewing the entire operation in 3DHD. The 3DHD vision system provides surgeons a highly magnified view, virtually extending their eyes and hands into the patient. The tiny instruments have an even greater range of motion, with built-in tremor-filtration technology to allow each move to have smooth precision. 

Rather than having to have an open surgery, where the surgeon makes incisions long enough to see the entire surgery areas and perform the procedure using hand-held tools, this minimally invasive surgery allows for the surgeon to conduct the surgery using a camera and long thin instruments through a small incision ranging in size from eight to 13 millimeters. This surgery allows for shortened hospital stays and recovery times compared to open surgeries. 

The robot is used at Shore across a spectrum of minimally invasive surgical procedures such as colorectal surgery, general surgery, gynecologic oncology surgery, gynecologic surgery, hepatobiliary surgery, pediatric general surgery, and urological surgery.

The da Vinci Xi system is an expandable technology platform designed to accommodate and seamlessly integrate many current technologies and future innovations in areas such as imaging, advanced instruments, and anatomical access. The robot at Shore has been named “Lenny” in honor of Dr. Leonard Galler