Professor Andrew Stevenson, Colorectal Surgeon, St Vincent's Private Hospital Northside performs surgery using da Vinci 5 (dV5) robotic system,
“The computing power in this new system is around 10,000 times greater, which allows us to achieve much better vision, improved precision, haptic feedback and remote operation capabilities that simply weren’t possible before,” Prof Stevenson said
“All of the features contribute to greater precision and increased patient safety.
“We were able to remove a patient’s very low bowel cancer, avoiding the need for a stoma bag.”
The dV5 will support a range of surgical specialties at Northside, including urology, colorectal and general surgery with capability to expand into other specialties over time.
“As robotic technology continues to evolve, we’re proud to offer our patients access to the most advanced and sophisticated surgical system currently available.”
Prof Stevenson, who uses robotics for 95% of his operations, says the new dV5 enables surgeons to perform procedures with wristed instruments from a 3D console, while also allowing them to “feel” tissue tension through haptic feedback.
Some of the theatre team, alongside Prof Stevenson, who helped with the first procedure.
Professor Andrew Stevenson with the dV5 robotic system.
“You have much better awareness of the tissues you’re operating on, particularly delicate structures such as the bowel, ureters and nerves,” he explained.
“You have much better awareness of the tissues you’re operating on, particularly delicate structures such as the bowel, ureters and nerves,” he explained.Innovation is at the centre of this new technology, with local surgeons having the option of performing operations remotely, using the telepresence capability on the dV5.
“If there are surgeons in other units around the country, in places like Toowoomba, Cairns, or even overseas, they can contact me if they’re having difficulty with a particular operation while they’re performing it,” Prof Stevenson explained.
“I can then connect to the console remotely, take control of their robot, wherever they are, and help them complete the procedure without having to convert to open surgery.
“And again, that leads to better outcomes for patients and much greater safety.”
The dV5 joins Northside’s other robotic platforms – two Stryker Mako robots, which are used to perform hip and knee joint replacement surgery.
St Vincent’s Private Hospital Fitzroy also recently took delivery of a dV5.
dV5 robotics platform.
