RBOT news
Wednesday January 9, 11:00 am Eastern Time
Press Release
SOURCE: UCLA Health Sciences Communications
UCLA Surgeons Perform First Robotic Abdominal Surgery in Southern California
LOS ANGELES--(BW HealthWire)--Jan. 9, 2002--UCLA surgeons performed the first abdominal surgery in Southern California with a robot on Monday, Jan. 7. Using a new robotic system called ZEUS®, surgeons reconstructed the drainage system of a kidney on a 22-year old female UCLA student. This is the first time in the U.S. that the ZEUS Robotic Surgical System has been used for this type of laparoscopic surgical procedure.
``We are very pleased that the surgery went so well,'' said Dr. Peter Schulam, chief of the division of endourology and laparoscopy at UCLA Medical Center. ``Robotic surgery is the wave of the future and we hope to incorporate ZEUS in more procedures.''
During part of the two-and-one-half hour laparoscopic procedure to reconstruct the kidney's drainage system -- called a pyeloplasty -- Schulam sat at the ZEUS console on the controls that operate the ``arms'' of the ZEUS robot. Schulam performed the surgery while viewing a magnified video image from inside the patient's body, on his console screen.
Patient Fay Clapp, a fourth-year psychology student at UCLA, had been diagnosed with a congenital defect causing an obstruction in the kidney drainage system. Clapp had been experiencing pain on her right side and doctors found that one of her kidneys was only functioning at 30 percent. She will be released after just a couple of days in the hospital and is eager to resume her academic and other activities including running and working out.
Although not common, the congenital disorder, called a ureteral pelvis junction obstruction, can be corrected laparoscopically. In laparoscopic surgery, a tiny camera is inserted into the body and sends back images to a video screen, allowing the surgeon to perform a less invasive procedure.
According to Schulam, robotic surgery offers better control, such as avoiding hand tremors, as well as allowing more range of motion than normally found with laparoscopic instruments. Robotics are part of the trend toward minimally-invasive surgery, which also benefits patients with shorter recovery times and reduced pain and trauma. UCLA is incorporating more robotic surgery, both clinically and educationally to help train future surgeons.
The ZEUS® Robotic Surgical System is designed for minimally-invasive microsurgical procedures. ZEUS is a product of Computer Motion, Inc. (Nasdaq:RBOT - news), a high-tech medical device company that develops, manufactures and markets computer-enhanced and robotic surgical systems. A ZEUS system was used in the world's first transatlantic telesurgery in September 2001 when a surgeon in New York operated on a patient located in France.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact:
UCLA Health Sciences Communications
Rachel Champeau, 310/794-2270
or
SurfMedia Communications
for Computer Motion
Juliana Minsky, 805/962-5792 |
