Robot hot among surgeons but FDA taking a new look
Ron Czapala
Posts: 2,418
http://news.yahoo.com/robot-hot-among-surgeons-fda-140543102.html
Excerpt
The biggest thing in operating rooms these days is a million-dollar, multi-armed robot named da Vinci, used in nearly 400,000 surgeries nationwide last year triple the number just four years earlier.
But now the high-tech helper is under scrutiny over reports of problems, including several deaths that may be linked with it and the high cost of using the robotic system.
There also have been a few disturbing, freak incidents: a robotic hand that wouldn't let go of tissue grasped during surgery and a robotic arm hitting a patient in the face as she lay on the operating table.
Is it time to curb the robot enthusiasm?
Excerpt
The biggest thing in operating rooms these days is a million-dollar, multi-armed robot named da Vinci, used in nearly 400,000 surgeries nationwide last year triple the number just four years earlier.
But now the high-tech helper is under scrutiny over reports of problems, including several deaths that may be linked with it and the high cost of using the robotic system.
There also have been a few disturbing, freak incidents: a robotic hand that wouldn't let go of tissue grasped during surgery and a robotic arm hitting a patient in the face as she lay on the operating table.
Is it time to curb the robot enthusiasm?
Comments
Sure, everybody dogpile on robots during National Robotics Week!
The main thing about da Vinci robotics surgery is it is less invasive than traditional human surgery. if whatever the procedure is, is done with more accuracy there is likely less trauma and a quicker recovery.
But I am sure there is a lot of appeal for an urban myth where the surgical robot runs amok.
BTW, doctors are not dumb people. So I suspect there are quite a few doctor/programmers involved. And then there is the fact that we all die. Doctors cannot make people live forever and some are lost in attempting to do just that.
yes, but its too late. Disturbing, freak accidents are here to stay. And cannot be deleted.
Someone forgot to add the F!ng MANUAL OVERRIDE!
(Or they forgot to teach people how to manually override it when 'issues' occur. )
Hitting a patient in the face sounds like someone didn't set the correct limits on 'operating box' where the robot can move the arm.
(Or they did... once... then forgot about it, and for one reason or another, the table was raised higher during one operation so that the patient's head appeared 'inside the box')
These aren't accidents. They're cases of negligence.
There are some hazards due to lack of adequate training.. such as not being aware of how to do a manual override.
My dad had only one notable machine failure in surgery in his medical career. In the 1960s or 70s, the latest gadget was an electric cauterizer that electrically burned flesh to stop bleeding. He had a machine that was improperly grounded and there was an insturmentation ground that was usally clipped to the patient's finger or ear.
At the end of an otherwise uneventful surgery, it was discovered that the patient had a hole burned in her ear.
Consider the fact that we have been doing things with X-ray, life-support, and so on for many decades now. And the simple fact is that 1 of 20 people that go under a general anesthetic have complications. Surgery is performed because the odds are better that you will recover than if do nothing. It is a calculated risk, unless you go in for cosmetic surgery or other such vanities.
Still, I am happy to hear that the FDA feels that they should keep an eye on what is going on. They are supposed to.