31/05/2024
*Robotic Surgery*
_How Does the Robotic Surgical System Work?_
To operate using robotic surgery in India, the surgeon makes tiny incisions in the patient’s body and inserts miniaturised instruments and a high-definition 3 D camera. However, in some cases, skin incisions are not needed at all. Then, the surgeon uses the devices from a nearby console to perform the operation.
During a robotic surgery, the surgeon uses master controls to utilise the instruments. The instruments translate the surgeon’s movements into precise movements inside the patient’s body. The surgeon controls the whole time; the surgical system responds to their instructions. However, before going ahead with any procedures, people should know what are the advantages of robotic surgery.
Why is Robotic Surgery Done?
Healthcare providers who use the robotic system find that for many procedures, it enhances precision, flexibility and control during the operation. With robotic surgery, surgeons can perform delicate and complex procedures that might be impossible with other methods.
Often, robotic surgery makes minimally invasive surgery possible. The benefits of robotic surgery are as follows:
_Fewer complications_ , such as surgical site infection
Less pain and blood loss
Shorter hospital stay and quicker recovery
More minor or less noticeable scars
What Are The Major Benefits of Robotic Surgery?
Robotic surgery requires tiny incisions; therefore, the selected patients can benefit from minimal scarring, less surgical trauma, and faster recovery times than with traditional open surgery.
Mentioned below are some of the significant benefits people get by having robotic surgery.
The system uses two high-definition cameras for the surgeon with a magnified view of the surgical site, combining very accurate depth perception with a 40 per cent sharper image than traditional and old systems.
An additional arm is used to hold a retractor or other surgical instrument. It gives the surgeon more operating capabilities.
An instant image referencing is received by the surgeon that displays diagnostic snapshots, for example, ultrasound, CT scan images of the area taken before surgery, and more on the monitor, alongside the surgeon’s view of the surgery being performed.
It offers enhanced near-infrared imaging that is used during surgery and helps in identifying abnormal tissue from normal tissue and evaluating blood flow in real-time.
It also has extra wrist action, which works like a human and helps in holding an array of specific surgical instruments. It gives an even greater range of motion.
The robotic surgery offers scalability that allows the surgeon to calibrate the robot’s arm to move a fraction of an inch for every inch the surgeon’s hand moves, a feature that simplifies the most complex movements, including delicate removals such as suturing, knot-tying, and more.
Significant advancements have been made in the field of robotic surgery in the past few years. Robotic surgery is preferred for urologic, gynecologic, thoracic, cardiothoracic, and gastrointestinal procedures. Moreover, many large hospitals across the United States and the countries around the world , have adopted robotic surgery as a standard
Healthcare professionals are leveraging digital solutions such as AI to improve current surgical procedures. This article highlights 4 ways AI is revolutionizing the field of surgery to help healthcare professionals and business managers in making better future decisions regarding its implementation.
*AI-enabled preoperative planning*
Preoperative or pre-surgical planning refers to the plan that surgeons create of how the procedure will be done. This process is based mainly on historic methods and data of similar surgeries performed. AI can help improve this process.
For example, a study on AI-based preoperative planning for knee arthroplasty (surgery), found that the technology made the process more efficient.
*AI-enabled intraoperative assistance*
This is another popular application of AI in the field of surgery. As mentioned before, surgeries have various complications that can impact the life of the patient. This impact is called surgical trauma. Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is a combination of techniques and technologies in which the trauma caused by the surgery is reduced to a minimum. MIS procedures are increasingly being used with AI-enabled robotic assistance.
As the potential for robot-assisted surgeries is realized, healthcare professionals are investing more in the technology. The global market is projected to increase from $4B in 2022 to about $18B by 2030.
For example, a study by Harvard Medical School presented that some of the benefits of a robot-assisted prostate cancer surgery include a shorter recovery period, lower post-surgery pain, and fewer post-surgery complications.
*AI for avoiding surgery
Surgery* has many complications attached to it, that is why healthcare professionals do not use it as the first resort. There are some diseases, which can be treated without surgery if detected earlier. For example, peripheral artery disease (PAD) is difficult to detect and in late detection can require surgical amputation of the limb.
Early detection of PAD through AI can help avoid surgical amputations. The National Health Service (NHS) of the UK has initiated a program called Accelerating Detection of Disease (ADD) which will leverage big data and AI to develop solutions for the early detection and anticipation of illnesses in the UK.
Artificial intelligence and 5G network enabled remote surgery in the most urban and distant areas across the world
Remote surgery is another way AI is improving the field. Sometimes the surgeons can not be in the same place as the patient, whether because the patients are in remote areas or is in isolation due to a global pandemic. Remote surgery can help overcome these challenges.
With remote surgery, the surgeon can use surgical robots through a computer or controlling platform to perform surgery while being away from the patient.
While this technology is not common, healthcare facilities are starting to adopt it.
The Da Vinci surgical robot system offers remote surgery with higher accuracy and less invasiveness.
In February 2019, the first tele‐mentored surgery over 5G was done in Barcelona, Spain. The laparoscopic was performed between the Mobile World Congress (MWC) Barcelona 2019 at Fira Gran Via and the Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, approximately 4 km away. The telementored surgery was conducted with the help of a 5G connection provided by Vodafone and an online education portal, the Advances in Surgery (AIS) Channel. The procedure duration was around 118 min, the average latency time was 202 ms, and the mean data upload speed was 98 Mbps, with no observable signal loss, image buffering, or pixelation. Three surgeons rated the image quality as 9.67/10 and audio exchange as a 10 out of 10
Then in 2020 in Fujian ,China the surgery was performed at 48 kms distance and rapidly these tests are being conducted more and more for 500 kms area distance on animal model etc.
Upload speed and download speed should be almost same of the operating place and the place where surgeon is on the console to get the accuracy and prevent lag.
Soon,matching speeds between countries and continents will make it possible where you could see a surgeon from new York operating on a patient in New Delhi.
*Remote tele‐mentored collaboration* could help expand knowledge between clinicians in real‐time, increasing medical aid where 5G networks have been established. The high‐speed data transfer could allow large volumes of research and data collection to be shared in real‐time. New technological advancements could serve as a ground for emerging novel therapeutic applications. While limitations and challenges related to the 5G infrastructure, learning curve, cost analysis and device compatibility exist, conducting further research to overcome these limitations and comprehend the potential benefits of integrating the technology before widespread use for cancer management is imminent. Remote and tele‐mentored 5G‐powered procedures could offer a new tool in improving care of patients requiring robotic surgical management such as Prostrate Cancer patients.
We will also see more information exchange via cloud services among surgical robots. Any of the IT companies above could put a surgical robot on a protected internet with libraries of prior case information along with guidance from the best surgeons in the world. At the simplest level, surgeons could view data, animations, videos, simulations and real-time interactions applicable to a case. At a more advanced level, it creates the infrastructure needed for an AI to provide real-time warnings, guidance and advice during a procedure
We will also see more information exchange via cloud services among surgical robots. Any of the IT companies above could put a surgical robot on a protected internet with libraries of prior case information along with guidance from the best surgeons in the world. At the simplest level, surgeons could view data, animations, videos, simulations and real-time interactions applicable to a case. At a more advanced level, it creates the infrastructure needed for an AI to provide real-time warnings, guidance and advice during a procedure
Imagine a standardized and open operating system for surgical robots similar to your smartphone. This “Surgical Android” system could be licensed by multiple robotics manufacturers who no longer need to create costly software from scratch, but can leverage the skills, debugging and certifications of a commercialized software platform. This would significantly shorten the development and government approval of the software. Beyond AI capabilities, it could also deliver services similar to Google’s and Apple’s app stores, creating a market for third-party software to enhance the capabilities of the robot as an information processing device.
The surgical robotics future offers much more than mechanized extensions of a surgeon’s hands. Robotic software and hardware are the next generation of instruments and tools to improve surgeon skills and patient outcomes, just as technologies like MIS instruments, energy therapies and biologics have done in in the past.
Exciting times lie ahead.