The children who had robot-assisted surgery were in the operating room for a median of 116 minutes, compared with a median of 83 minutes for the open-chest procedures. This difference was statistically significant. But Ohye feels it is not unreasonable, especially given the other positive effects of using the robot.
The U-M team is now offering robot-assisted surgery as an option to the parents of patients with vascular rings and certain other conditions, even as they plan to expand the range of procedures they perform with it.
Someday, they hope that real-time, three-dimensional images of the inside of the heart made by sound wave echos or electromagnetic devices rather than cameras will allow them to perform minimally invasive versions of procedures that involve entering the heart itself. Right now, the imaging techniques are used to aid open-chest procedures.
"In five or so years, perhaps we'll perform most of the basic procedures with the robot's help," Ohye predicts. "But for now, we're starting with building the case for its safety and its cost-effectiveness, in certain types of cases. And we're finding that parents of our patients are embracing it, and in some cases even asking for it."
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Contact: Kara Gavin
kegavin@umich.edu
734-764-2220
University of Michigan Health System
28-Jan-2004