Belgium: heart operation with the Zeus robot

Belgium: heart operation with the Zeus robot

In Belgium, a patient who underwent a double surgery on coronaries two weeks ago left the hospital 48 hours after the procedure. This shortened convalescence is due to a first surgical: it was operated without opening the thorax, using a robot with voice control. In Blankenberge, Guy de NEVE, 51, cycled 20 km 15 days after the procedure. Usually, the recovery lasts more than two months. Guy DE NEVE: "I feel beautiful, that’s all, I feel very good." He’s ready to go back to work. Reduced convalescence, no scars, thanks to the little robot Zeus. On September 4, in Alost, Guy’s operation was entirely filmed. Two small holes in the chest for the robot arms and instruments, one for the voice-controlled camera. The surgeon handles the robot and sees the operation on his screen. Hugo VANERMEN, surgeon: "The surgeon’s hands will tremble a little, the mechanical arms of the robot do not tremble at all. It gives a precision to the millimeter." The technique is very recent. The first tests took place in February in Strasbourg on the heart of an animal. The robot could make its way into the operating rooms. Interview with Professor Jacques MARESCAUX (25/02/1999) President of the Association for Research on Cancer of the Gastrointestinal Tract: "Sometimes you need remote help from a more expert surgeon for part of the operation: in addition to the advice, it will be possible to operate remotely for 10 minutes or 15 minutes." A computer-assisted operation, some see further imagining the patient at one place and the surgeon at the other end of the world.

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File : Telesurgery and telemedicine

Publication date : 18 September 1999