1. What is the da Vinci S HD Surgical System?
2. How does it work?
3. What is minimally invasive surgery (MIS)?
4. What are the benefits of using the da Vinci Surgical System when compared with traditional methods of surgery?
5. What procedures have been performed using the da Vinci Surgical System? What additional procedures are possible?
6. Has the da Vinci Surgical System been cleared by the FDA?
7. Will the da Vinci Surgical System make the surgeon unnecessary?
8. Is a surgeon using the da Vinci System operating in "virtual reality"?
9. While using the da Vinci Surgical System, can the surgeon feel anything inside the patient's chest or abdomen?
10. Is this telesurgery? Can you operate over long distances?

da Vinci Surgical System

Q. What is the da Vinci S HD™ Surgical System?

A. The da Vinci S HD Surgical System consists of an ergonomically designed surgeon's console, a patient cart with four interactive robotic arms, a high-performance vision System and patented EndoWrist® instruments.

Q. How does it work?

Operating Room Schematic

A. At the da Vinci console, your surgeon operates while seated comfortably, viewing a highly magnified 3D image of the body's interior. To operate, the surgeon uses master controls that work like forceps.

As your surgeon manipulates the controls, da Vinci responds to your surgeon's input in real time, translating his or her hand, wrist and finger movements into precise movements of miniaturized instruments at the patient-side cart.

da Vinci's patient cart holds up to three EndoWrist instruments and one 3D camera. To access the target anatomy, your surgeon introduces the precisly controlled EndoWrist instruments into the body through a series of dime-sized incisions. A broad range of instrument types are available to help your surgeon perform specialized surgical tasks with precision and control.

Q. What is minimally invasive surgery (MIS)?

EndoWrist® Instruments

A. The term MIS can be used interchangeably with laparoscopy or endoscopic surgery. Minimally invasive surgery is performed through dime-sized (1-2 cm) incisions — also called operating ports. This is in contrast to the much larger incisions used in traditional, open surgery, which are often as large as 6-12 inches long. In cardiac surgery, a conventional “open” approach also involves splitting the breastbone and opening the ribs.

The smaller incisions used in MIS typically enable shorter recovery times and result in less pain, less blood loss, fewer transfusions, fewer infections and reduced hospitalization costs. While MIS has become standard-of-care for particular surgical procedures, it has not been widely adopted for more complex or delicate procedures – for example, prostatectomy and mitral valve repair.

Intuitive Surgical believes that surgeons have been slow to adopt MIS for complex procedures because they find that fine-tissue manipulation — such as dissecting and suturing — is more difficult and less precise using traditional MIS (laparoscopy or endoscopic surgery) than with open surgery. Intuitive Surgical's technology, however, enables the use of MIS technique for complex procedures.

Surgeon Hands
&EndoWrist®

Q. What are the benefits of using the da Vinci Surgical System when compared with traditional methods of surgery?

A. Some of the major benefits experienced by surgeons using the da Vinci Surgical System over traditional approaches have been greater surgical precision, increased range of motion, improved dexterity, enhanced visualization and improved access. Benefits experienced by patients may include a shorter hospital stay, less pain, less risk of infection, less blood loss, fewer transfusions, less scarring, faster recovery and a quicker return to normal daily activities. None of these benefits can be guaranteed, as surgery can be both patient- and procedure-specific.

Q. What procedures have been performed using the da Vinci Surgical System? What additional procedures are possible?

A. To date, tens of thousands of procedures, including general, urologic, gynecologic, thoracoscopic and thoracoscopically-assisted cardiotomy procedures have been performed using the da Vinci Surgical System.

Q. Has the da Vinci Surgical System been cleared by the FDA?

A. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the da Vinci Surgical System for a wide range of procedures.

EndoWrist® &
Console Masters

Q. Will the da Vinci Surgical System make the surgeon unnecessary?

A. Absolutely not. On the contrary, the da Vinci System is designed to help surgeons advance their technique by enhancing their ability to perform complex minimally invasive surgery. The System replicates the surgeon's movements in real time. It cannot be programmed, nor can it make decisions on its own to move the surgical instruments.

InSite® Vision

Q. Is a surgeon using the da Vinci System operating in "virtual reality"?

A. While he/she is seated at a console a few feet away from the patient, the surgeon views an actual image of the surgical field while operating in real-time, through tiny incisions, using electromechanically enhanced instruments. At no time does the surgeon see a virtual image or program/command the system to perform any maneuver on its own/outside of the surgeon's direct, real-time control.

Hand on Control

Q. While using the da Vinci Surgical System, can the surgeon feel anything inside the patient's chest or abdomen?

A. The system relays some force feedback sensations from the operative field back to the surgeon throughout the procedure. This force feedback provides a substitute for tactile sensation. This feedback is augmented by the enhanced vision provided by the high-resolution 3D view.

Q. Is this telesurgery? Can you operate over long distances?

A. The da Vinci Surgical System can theoretically be used to operate over long distances. This capability, however, is not the primary focus of the company and thus is not available with the current da Vinci Surgical System.

All images © 2007 Intuitive Surgical, Inc.