Argentine surgeons
have conducted the world's first remote surgical procedure taught by a
U.S. surgeon more than 5,400 miles away using a robot.
With the help
of the RP-7 Remote Presence Robot, Dr. Alex Gandsas, an associate professor
of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, guided surgeons
in Argentina through a laparoscopic gastric sleeve procedure for the treatment
of morbid obesity.
The surgery
followed a three-month training program, during which Gandsas educated
Drs. Sergio Cantarelli and Gabriel Egidi in Bahia Blanca, Argentina, entirely
through the robot. Without ever having met in person, the Argentine doctors
learned the procedure by remotely participating in surgeries performed
in the United States.
The RP-7 Remote
Presence Robot, produced by InTouch Health Technologies Inc. of Santa Barbara,
Calif., enables a medical specialist to mentor a physician or surgeon at
a remote site using a high speed Internet connection.
The 5-foot-5
robot employs two-way cameras, microphones and other wireless technology
including joystick-controlled mobility around the operating room, the company
said.
--
Copyright
2007 by United Press International.
All rights reserved.