Robotic heart surgeon

One very lucky Australian lady has avoided having open-heart surgery, as her robotic operator needed just a 4cm incision to do its work.

The 77 year old had a 1.5cm tumor around the mitral valve of her heart, which was causing thousands of extra beats as it pressed against the heart and leading to her collapse many times.

After just six days in hospital, a fraction of the time needed after open-heart procedure, the patient was released with her heart function returned to normal and a couple of stitches.

The robot has played a part in over 200 heart ops, but this one was by far its biggest challenge due to the location of the tumour, the delicate mitral valve might normally have had to be replaced, but the robotic equipment’s precise movements allowed the valve cords to be reconstructed.

Surgeons control the robot through a console using 3-D binocular-style glasses. The best part is the robot doesn’t suffer from the slightest of hand tremors that humans simply cannot avoid…..Oh, and it doesn’t flirt with nurses either.

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